I Am The Wrath
by The Silent Scream
Summary: It's Buffy's birthday yet again, and celebrations are in order. When the morning after turns sour though, it's up to Willow, her demon and the rest of the gang to figure out what is going on. Willow / OC, rating mostly for cursing.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: And here we go with yet antoher fic of the little series-thingy or whatever this is :) This one's getting a special dedication to my dear friend who helped with some ideas and provided her opinion on this before it got posted here. I hope you'll enjoy it! :)

Disclaimer: All characters used from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer are property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and so on, I'm just taking them off the shelves to play with for a while.

* * *

><p><span>I Am The Wrath<span>

The day at campus had started like many others before, with Buffy and Willow meeting before their first class and then heading to the lecture hall together; they sat next to each other during said class, giving her best to pay attention, something which was considerably harder for the Slayer than for the witch, thanks to the fact that patrol had taken longer than she had thought the night before and that she only had gotten a mere three hours of sleep before the alarm clock had torn her out of her slumber again.

Thus, she let out several hearty yawns during the lecture, something which earned her several strict looks from the professor, even though she covered her mouth every time the urge to yawn overtook her again; when the class finally ended, the elder man who had been teaching it gave her another strict glance as she walked past him on her way out, and she smiled back at him innocently, the smile vanishing from her face the second he wasn't looking at her anymore.

"I wonder if he'd still give me the evil eye every time I yawn if he knew why I'm so tired", she mumbled, making Willow smile next to her, the witch shrugging afterwards and reaching out to patch her friend's shoulder reassuringly.

"I'm sure he wouldn't", she then told the blonde, not surprised when Buffy started towards the cafeteria, clearly in the need for some caffeine, "but you can hardly tell him that, so you'll just have to deal with his annoying looks."

"I know", Buffy sighed, "the sacred duty of being… what I am has to be kept secret. I've heard that from Giles a million times."

"Not that it worked so well with us", Willow giggled in reply, making the Slayer smile as well as she remembered how quickly both Willow and Xander had found out about her – and how fast they had accepted the gruesome truth about the town they were living in and had decided to join in on the fight.

"I'm glad it didn't", the blonde stated, making the witch smile again as well, "I couldn't do it without you…"

"And without you, we'd all be dead by now, several times", Willow shrugged, entering the cafeteria with her best friend and making her way to the counter with her, both of them ordering large coffees there, turning to each other again as soon as the clerk started preparing them and their attention didn't need to be focused on him anymore.

"I hope that coffee will help", Buffy sighed, briefly glancing at the clerk again and watching how he poured said coffee, "or I'll just fall asleep during the next class. Which subject is it anyway?"

"Psychology", Willow told her without hesitation, once more making the Slayer glad about the fact that her best friend was able to memorize their schedules like that, something she never had been able to do as well as the redhead, always forgetting one class or another.

"I really hope that coffee will help then", she sighed to herself, "Professor Crichton gets even more annoyed about yawning people than the prof we just had does, do you remember how he asked that one guy to leave when he kept yawning?"

"Yeah, that poor guy, he was so flustered when he left", Willow grimaced, for the sake of her best friend sharing her hope that the caffeine would kick in properly; moments later, the clerk put the two paper cups down in front of them, prompting the redhead to pay for both of them, Buffy taking the time to thank her – briefly – before she picked up the cup and took a big gulp of the coffee.

"This is so good", she sighed out afterwards, clutching the coffee to her chest as she left the cafeteria with Willow in tow, making sure that she wouldn't spill any of it, should another student bump into her, "and so strong, just perfect."

"Really?" Willow gave back after taking a sip of her own coffee, frowning at the cup, "it doesn't taste that strong to me."

"That's because you're used to the coffee Pat makes", Buffy smirked in reply, "when I drank one of those for the first time, I thought I'd have a heart attack!"

"Good point", the redhead had to add, grinning as well, "and considering how much sugar she always pours into hers, I'm surprised she's not hyped up for hours after drinking that stuff."

"True", Buffy agreed, a giggle escaping her as she imagined a hyped up Pat, the mental image of the demon running in circles amusing her enough to aid the caffeine in taking some of her tiredness away.

"Must be connected to her nature or something", she added once she had managed to get that picture out of her mind, "I know that I'd be hyped up if I drank coffee the way she does."

This made both of them giggle, and afterwards, they grinned at each other; still smiling, they entered the room were the next lecture would be held together, taking their seats and making themselves comfortable, sipping their coffee while they waited for the professor to arrive and start the class.

* * *

><p>To their surprise, the normally punctual professor hadn't shown up ten minutes later, something which was highly out of character for him – during all the time he had been teaching them ever since he had taken over after Professor Walsh's death, he never had been late, and often had let his students know about how much he despised it if they were unpunctual.<p>

"That's weird", Buffy finally murmured to her best friend, making her nod; around them, the other students were starting to mumble among themselves as well, showing it to the Slayer that she wasn't the only one who thought that this was odd.

"He's never been late before", Willow now stated, keeping her voice low as well, "this is really odd."

As if her words had been some kind of cue, the door to the lecture hall opened, but it was not the professor who entered; instead, another teacher moved up to the lectern, clearing his throat uncomfortably before he spoke up, his words prompting Buffy to close her eyes briefly.

"Unfortunately", the professor began, "Professor Crichton unexpectedly passed away last night. We're looking to find a replacement for him as fast as possible, but until then, psychology classes will have to be cancelled. A memorial service for all those who are interested will be held in the auditorium tomorrow at three p.m.."

"Why am I sure that he died of neck trauma", Buffy whispered to Willow, making sure none of the other students around them heard her; next to her, the redhead nodded glumly, a small sigh escaping her afterwards.

"Honestly, I'm surprised this hasn't happened earlier", she then whispered back, glancing around as well, glad when no one else reacted to her words, "I mean, he did mention how fond he was of nightly walks across the campus quite often, and we know how dangerous that is here in Sunnydale…"

"You'd think though they know by now that the Slayer's going to college", Buffy muttered, only to make Willow point out the fact that she wasn't _living_ on campus anymore, the blonde having to admit that her friend was right.

"Maybe I should move back into the dorm", she then sighed while the professor who had told them the tragic news left the class and the students started packing up their stuff, their enthusiasm about a cancelled class noticeably dimmed by the fact that the professor who had been supposed to hold it had died, "then they maybe would stop going on the hunt here."

"I don't think so", Willow gave back, making the blonde raise an eyebrow and prompting her to go on. "Well, you've been the Slayer here in Sunnydale for years now, and that didn't really stop them until now, right? They're still hunting at night, at the Bronze even though that's the bar you always go to, and a few times, you even caught them right in the street you live in. So, even if you did move back to the dorm…"

She trailed off and shrugged, and after a moment, Buffy had to admit that her best friend was right, another sigh escaping her as a response.

"Well", she then stated, "since that class is off, what do you think about having another coffee?"

"Sure", the redhead agreed, making Buffy smile again; together, they left the class and made their way back to the cafeteria, spending the time until the next class there with drinking their coffee and talking, their mood slightly dimmed by the death of the professor, even though such deaths were not a seldom occurrence in Sunnydale.

* * *

><p>Already when she stepped into the apartment, the smell of food hit Willow's nostrils, and her stomach rumbled audibly in response; she had had lunch at the campus with Buffy, but as always, the food there hadn't been all too filling, her mouth watering as she identified the smell as the one of pasta sauce.<p>

Quickly, she took off her shoes and jacket, then moved into the kitchen, throwing her book bag on the living room couch as she walked past it; upon entering the kitchen, she found her girlfriend standing at the oven and stirring a pot with noodles, every now and then doing the same to the smaller pot next to it, keeping the sauce the witch had smelled in the hallway from burning.

"There you are", Pat greeted her as she entered, bending over to kiss her Hello, "just on time, dinner's almost done. How was college?"

"Bit depressing", Willow gave back, sitting down at the kitchen table, her words making the demon raise an eyebrow at her, prompting her to speak on. "Our psychology professor was killed last night… Not surprising in that town, but it's still a blow every time it happens to someone we know…"

"Oh, ouch", Pat grimaced, briefly leaving the sauce and noodles alone and moving to her girlfriend, putting an arm around her shoulders, "are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine", the witch replied, smiling slightly, "as I said, it's a blow when it's someone you know, but we are in Sunnydale, so…"

"It's kinda part of life here", the demon finished, making the redhead nod; the taller woman still took the time to kiss her quickly, but tenderly, then moved back to the stove and focused on the food again, deciding that it was done a few minutes later.

"I hope that didn't ruin your appetite", she stated while she started filling two plates with noodles and sauce, "or that wonderful food will go to waste."

"You made all that?" Willow wanted to know in reply, sounding a bit sceptical – she knew that her girlfriend wasn't exactly a genius in the kitchen, this being the main reason why she hardly ever made lunch or dinner.

"The noodles", Pat smirked, putting the plate down in front of her girlfriend before she sat down as well, "the sauce's been pre-done, it came in a glass, the wonders of modern times. We didn't have that when I was your age."

"They didn't even have cars when you were my age", Willow giggled in reply, picking up the fork the demon had put down next to her plate and starting to eat, a happy sigh escaping her after the first bite.

"This is really good", she then told her girlfriend, "even though the sauce has been pre-done."

"Yeah, it's a yummy one", Pat smiled, taking a big bite of her food as well afterwards, taking the time to chew and swallow before she spoke on. "So you'll get a new teacher, then? Do you already know whom?"

"Nope", Willow gave back, "I hope they'll find a replacement quickly, I mean, that sounds nasty now, but the class still has to go on, not to mention the exams and everything."

"Well, this is Sunnydale", the demon shrugged, "they're surely used to finding replacement teachers rather quick here, right?"

"I guess so", the witch agreed after a moment, "as you said, this is Sunnydale. Honestly, sometimes I'm surprised people are still living here, what with them getting killed all the time."

"Well, they can't move away after they've been killed", Pat pointed out, smirking when Willow raised an eyebrow at her in reply, chuckling when the redhead pointed out that this wasn't what she had meant.

"I know", she then reassured her girlfriend, "but yeah, you're right, sometimes, I wonder about that too, I mean, there's a good reason that Buffy and the rest of the gang are staying here, but for the normal citizen types? No idea. Good selective memories or something."

"Very good selective memory", Willow mumbled, then changed the topic by asking Pat how her day had been; and while her girlfriend told her about it, making her giggle by letting her know how she had helped Anya at the Magic Box and the ex-demon had tried to reward her with a jar of dried frog eyes, Willow forgot about the death of her professor for a while, the relaxed and happy atmosphere in the apartment pushing all those unpleasant thoughts out of her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

In the next morning, Buffy looked a bit more awake than she had in the previous day when she met up with Willow at the campus; this prompted the redhead to ask her if patrol had been easier the night before, making the Slayer nod – before she let out a small sigh, keeping her voice low when she replied. "It was, but from now on, I'll keep expecting to run into Professor Crichton, and knowing my luck, it will happen sooner or later."

"Has he been buried already?" Willow asked in surprise, making the blonde shrug. "I don't know", she then verbalized the gesture, "but if he was turned, he'll come back out after they buried him, if they didn't do that yet, so…"

"Maybe he wasn't turned", the redhead shrugged, briefly wondering why they were talking about this – it wouldn't be the first time that Buffy would have to slay someone she had known before they'd been sired, and surely not the last time, either.

"I guess I'll see", the blonde now said, then changed the topic by wondering out loud how long it might take until a new teacher would be found, nearly jumping when a guy who had been walking close to her spoke up. "I heard they already did, and that classes will go on without interruption."

"That would have been quick", Willow threw in, frowning; next to her, Buffy nodded, wondering if it really was possible to find a teacher that fast, the student shrugging in reply.

"Seems that they did, if that stuff I heard wasn't wrong", he then said, "we should just go to class and find out."

"Yeah, that might be the best idea", Buffy gave back, a bit taken aback when the guy smiled heartily at her before he told her, suddenly sounding shy, that he'd see her in class then and hurried off; to her annoyance, Willow started giggling next to her a second later, making her look at the witch with a raised eyebrow.

"I think he likes you", the redhead smirked, even nudging her best friend in the ribs, an action which prompted Buffy to raise her second eyebrow as well, her voice full of disbelief when she replied. "You think? He just was nice."

"No he wasn't", Willow protested, shaking her head, "didn't you notice how shy he got when he said he'd see you in class? He likes you, I'm telling you."

"I'm not sure you're competent to judge that", Buffy teased her in reply, "you've been in a relationship for years, I think your radar for such things is a bit off."

"No it's not", Willow protested, "my radar is working perfectly fine, trust me. He likes you."

"He doesn't even know me", Buffy argued, clearly not willing to accept this so fast, for reasons Willow couldn't quite figure out, "he just saw me in class so far, and only saw the back of my head, how can he like me?"

"You have a pretty head?" Willow shrugged, giggling at the disbelieving look Buffy shot her in reply. "What?" she then went on, "you know I was crushing on Pat before I even knew her properly and just sat next to her a few times."

"Yeah, but you sat next to her, and _talked_ to her", the Slayer insisted, "I hardly ever spoke to that guy before."

"He still likes you and that's it", Willow gave back, obviously not willing to give in anytime soon, "just trust me on that. I bet Pat would say the same if she'd been here to see and hear that."

"She almost always agrees with you, so she doesn't count", the blonde gave back, giggling when Willow smacked her arm lightly and protested that this wasn't true; for a moment, she felt like rattling off a list of moments when the demon hadn't agreed with her, then decided against it, figuring that Buffy knew that what she had said hadn't been fully true anyway.

"Just wait", she thus said instead, "I bet he'll approach you again sooner or later."

"Alright, and if he doesn't within a week, you owe me a coffee. If he does, I owe you one", Buffy smirked, holding her hand out; giggling, the redhead grasped it and shook it, the two friends grinning at each other afterwards, then moved on towards the main hall of the university and to their next lecture.

* * *

><p>Two classes later, it turned out that the guy who allegedly liked Buffy had been right; the room where the psychology class was going to be held was almost full when Willow and Buffy entered, the two to their happiness finding two empty seats next to each other and taking them, readying their stuff before Willow bent over to the Slayer and whispered into her ear. "I wonder who the new teacher will be. Think it'll be someone who's well known?"<p>

"I don't know", Buffy whispered back, "but I hope it won't be someone like Professor Walsh. You know, some crazy government-sponsored scientist, teaching us during the day and running something like the Initiative at night."

"God, I hope not", Willow grimaced, "she was an okay teacher, but she messed that up with Adam."

Nodding, Buffy shuddered at the mention of Adam, then pushed those unpleasant memories out of her mind as the door opened; curiously, both Buffy and Willow leaned forward in their seats, surprised to see a rather young woman entering, her blonde hair pulled back into a strict bun, a pair of glasses on her nose and a black leather bag in her hand.

"Good afternoon", she greeted, moving to the lectern and looking at the class over the rim of her glasses, "I'm Professor Sylvia Rowe, and I'll be teaching this class from now on. I'm sure all of you heard about what happened to Professor Crichton, so let's not dwell on that, but get down to business, shall we?"

With those words, she opened her bag and pulled out a book, telling the students at which page to open it; to everyone's surprise, she didn't pick up where Crichton had stopped, but ignored two chapters, moving directly to the psychology of serial killers and mass murderers.

"This was the topic of my dissertation", she let the class know, "so let's start with this, shall we? Did anyone of you already do any reading on this topic?"

Normally, Willow was the only one to raise her hand when the professor asked if someone had done any reading which was ahead of the schedule; this time, several people raised their hands though, briefly surprising the redhead – before she realized that the ones who had put their hand up along with her probably were as fascinated by the topic as their new professor clearly was, considering that she had written her dissertation about this.

"I'm impressed", the blonde woman now stated, smiling slightly, then nodding at one of the guys who had raised his hand and asked him to tell the class what he remembered about the text he had read; clearly nervous, the student started to talk while the others let their hand drop back down and listened, their gazes moving back and forth between the talking student and the professor, all of them trying to figure out what kind of person she was and how the lessons with her would be in the future.

* * *

><p>"That was quite interesting", Willow stated an hour later as she made her way to the cafeteria with Buffy, for a late lunch; next to her, the Slayer nodded, then grimaced a bit, keeping her voice low again when she replied. "It was, but I wish she hadn't started right away with that serial killer stuff. I get enough killing and killers in my free time, I'm not sure I wanna hear it in class, too."<p>

"Well, it is part of the lesson plan", Willow pointed out to her in reply, choosing her lunch – which wasn't all too easy, since all the good stuff already had been taken by students who had been there earlier, but finally, she did manage to settle on a salad with ham and cheese and an apple, "so we would have learned it with Crichton as well, just a bit later."

"I know", Buffy sighed, loading food on her tray as well, then moving on to the drink station and filling up a cup there, Willow doing the same next to her; afterwards, the two made their way to one of the free tables, something which at least was easy, since only a few of them were occupied.

"But why do I need to know how someone as creepy as Ted Bundy was ticking?" she demanded to know as soon as they had sat down; before Willow could answer though, a slightly familiar voice answered her from the next table, making both the Slayer and the witch turn to look at the one who had spoken, Buffy quickly identifying him as the guy who had told her that a new teacher had been found earlier that day.

"Don't you think it's interesting?" he wanted to know, briefly looking at Willow before his gaze focused on the Slayer again, the sight making the redhead smirk, "those guys we heard about today started out as people like you and me, and then they went and did all that horrible stuff. It's interesting to learn why they did that, right?"

"It's creepy", Buffy gave back, throwing her best friend a strict look when she saw the corners of her mouth twitch as she fought to hold back her smile, "but yeah, I can see your point, I guess it might be interesting for some people…"

"Uh-huh", the guy mumbled, clearly not so sure anymore if what he had said had been a wise thing to say; blushing, he turned back to his food, Buffy and Willow doing the same a moment later, the Slayer putting on a look of innocence when she saw the strict expression on her best friend's face. Knowing though that, even if she'd whisper, the guy would probably hear her, Willow kept any comments to herself until they had gotten done with their food and had left the cafeteria; once outside, she spoke up though, sounding as stern as she had looked minutes ago.

"Buffy!" she scolded, frowning when the blonde giggled in reply, "that poor guy! Now he thinks that you think he's insane!"

"Well, you have to admit it was a bit weird", Buffy defended herself, "I mean, calling that interesting? That's weird in my book."

"Well, for your information, I think that this is interesting too", Willow informed her friend, smirking when Buffy gave her an odd look. "Plus", she then went on, "you never know if maybe, we won't have a serial killer here in town some day, I mean, it wouldn't surprise me, this _is_ Sunnydale after all. And if it should happen, it'd be good to know how they tick, right?"

"I'm the Slayer, and your girlfriend is a demon", Buffy reminded her of her peculiar relationships in reply, "in case a serial killer ever shows up here – about which you are right, it wouldn't be surprising at all if that happened – we'll have him knocked out and left tied up nice and tight for the police faster than he'll be able to say I had a difficult childhood."

This made the witch giggle, and she had to admit that her friend had a good point; smiling as well, Buffy stopped right outside the campus gate, looking up at the slightly taller witch, changing the topic more or less skilfully by asking if they'd meet again in the next morning, her smile widening when immediately, Willow nodded, hurriedly speaking on before Buffy could say goodbye for the day though and their ways would part. "Oh, I almost forgot, Pat wants to go on patrol with you tonight, it's been a while since she beat something up and she's getting cranky. That's okay with you, right?"

"Sure", Buffy smirked, quite happy about that – during the last few nights, she had gone on patrol alone, but ever since Willow and Pat had started dating, she had gotten so used to the demon coming along that this almost had felt weird to her. "I'll meet her at the gate of the cemetery close to the new high school at ten, alright? I still don't get why they built that high school right on top of the old one, by the way."

"Because they don't know about the Hellmouth", Willow pointed out that lack of knowledge in the general population of Sunnydale, "but it still didn't make much sense, you're right about that, seeing all the bad stuff which happened there…"

"If I was city planner, or whatever the dudes who come up with that stuff are called, I'd have that city flattened", Buffy announced as an answer, giggling when she received a shock look from her friend; she quickly reassured her that she was kidding, then finally said goodbye, their ways parting a minute later as both returned to their homes.


	3. Chapter 3

"Right on time", Buffy stated the obvious several hours later, as she approached the cemetery gate; smirking, Pat just shrugged, then put out her cigarette by throwing it on the ground and stepping on it, grinding her boot from side to side a few times to make sure it really had gone out.

"Aren't I usually?" she then asked, chuckling moments later at the Slayer's reply, having to admit that the blonde had made a good point. "You are, unless when we meet to help Anya with doing the inventory or with accepting a new delivery at the store."

"Yeah, because then, our help means that we carry around all the heavy boxes and crap and she just stands there and tries to be helpful", the demon smirked as soon as she had calm down again, now making it Buffy's turn to laugh and nod her agreement.

"True", she then stated while they entered the cemetery together, "but you know how it is, we're strong and she… Well, she's not."

"I know, we're cursed with awesome", Pat sighed out dramatically, then performed such a quick and unexpected topic change that she nearly made Buffy dizzy for a second. "Oh by the way, is it true that you scared off a guy who might like you today?"

"Is there anything Willow doesn't tell you the moment she comes home?" Buffy wanted to know in reply, making the demon chuckle and shrug, her try to change the topic not working out that well though since afterwards, Pat just gave her a curious look, prompting her to answer her question.

"I don't know if I scared him off", she sighed after a moment, "I just told him that I think it's weird when people think how serial killers tick is interesting and fun to read about."

"I think that it's interesting", the black haired woman shrugged, raising an eyebrow when Buffy giggled in reply, her eyes sparkling with mischief when she looked up at her friend.

"You're a demon", she then pointed out, "you're supposed to like creepy stuff. It's okay when you do. But that guy is just a regular student, I really don't get it why he'd find that stuff interesting."

"People are drawn to the darker things in life", Pat wisely told her as an answer, now making it her turn to raise an eyebrow and prompting the demon to elaborate. "Why do you think horror novels and movies are so successful? Because there's not enough gruesome stuff happening in the real world? People are fascinated by this, even though most of them won't admit it."

"I guess you made a good point", the Slayer had to admit after thinking about this for a moment, then sighed to herself and shook her head, sounding a bit miffed when she went on. "I wonder if they'd still be so interested in all that stuff if they knew that all the horror stories are actually true. What do you think?"

"They would", the demon answered at once, "or are horror movies watched less here in Sunnydale than anywhere else in America? I don't think so."

"People are weird", Buffy decided as an answer, not surprised when immediately, Pat nodded her agreement; before they could talk more about the topic of weirdness in the human population though, the well-known snarling sounds of a vampire nearby distracted them, prompting them both to pull out the stakes they had brought in almost perfect unison.

"You first, or me?" Buffy asked, lifting the stake slightly; moments later, the question became moot as they spotted not one, but three vampires hurrying towards them, the Slayer and the demon just exchanging one glance before they turned to stand back to back, Pat smirking to herself, well aware of the fact that she was only seconds away from dishing out the violence she had been itching for during the last few days.

* * *

><p>"Now I know why patrol took so long the last few days", Buffy commented two hours later, stepping out of the cemetery gate and looking up at the taller demon beside her, "it's because I was alone. It's always done faster when there's the two of us."<p>

"Or the vampires give up faster then and hide", Pat smirked, making the Slayer giggle, "I mean, it's not like we're hard to be confused with someone else, we must have some kind of reputation by now among them."

"For sure", Buffy agreed, "the witty short blonde who's much stronger than she looks and the tall one with two colours in her hair who smokes all the time and has the dirtiest mouth ever, not to mention the tendency to start burning when she's pissed."

"I do not have the dirtiest mouth ever", Pat protested, to Buffy's amusement not making a comment about her tendency to go up in flames when annoyed, "I bet there are a lot of demons who have dirtier mouths than me. Figuratively and literally speaking."

"But they are the bad guys, they are allowed to have dirty mouths", the Slayer pointed out, chuckling again when the demon just snorted in reply, then dug through her pockets and lit up a cigarette; since no one else was around at this time of the night – especially not in Sunnydale, where nightly walks could easily end in blood, gore and death – she didn't bother to find her lighter, but used a flame she let appear on the tip of her finger.

"Show off", Buffy smirked, just earning another snort; then, they reached the crossroads where their ways would part, none of them bothering to tell the other to get home safely, knowing that, if they wouldn't be capable of doing just that, they'd be in big trouble anyway. Instead, they merely said goodbye to each other, then parted ways, Buffy walking back to her house in a rather leisurely pace while Pat's steps were much faster, the demon clearly eager to get home and satisfy certain needs which had awakened after the one for violence had been taken care of.

* * *

><p>In the next morning, it was Willow's turn to look awfully tired, the sight immediately making Buffy give her a surprisingly dirty grin when they met at the campus before their first class together; clearly not in the mood for banter, the witch shot her best friend a strict look as an answer, then mumbled "Not a word", stifling a hearty yawn afterwards.<p>

"I didn't say anything", Buffy defended herself, raising both hands as if to underline her words; Willow just gave her another strict look, then started walking towards the building where the room for the lecture was located, Buffy following her after a moment, still grinning to herself – she knew what a night of slaying could cause to well up within her, and by now knew Pat well enough to know it wasn't much different for the demon, either.

"Today, it's my turn to demand coffee after that first class", the redhead mumbled after just trotting along in silence for a while, "or I'll just fall asleep again, I can feel it."

"That'd be a first", Buffy gave back, "Willow falling asleep in class. I think in all the years I've known you, I've never seen this happen before."

"And I'd like to keep it that way", the witch reassured her, "so, coffee after that lecture. How was patrol yesterday?"

"Did you take classes on how to change the topic so fast it makes people dizzy from Pat?" the Slayer demanded to know in reply, slightly incredulous, then raised an eyebrow as another thought hit her, speaking on before Willow had a chance to answer that question. "And how come you don't know? Didn't Pat tell you yesterday?"

"We didn't do much talking after she came home", Willow mumbled, having the grace to blush slightly, her blush deepening when the blonde giggled in reply.

"Should have known", she teased, then shrugged, finally answering the question she had been asked two minutes ago. "It was okay, and as I told your girlfriend, I know now why it took so long the last few nights. It's done much faster when there's two on patrol than just me alone."

"You know Pat's always willing to come along", Willow shrugged in reply, "just give her a call when you want her to."

"Yes I know", Buffy smiled, her next words touching the witch, "but I don't want to keep her away from you every night, you know?"

"Aw, that's sweet", Willow gave back, briefly reaching out and touching her best friend's arm, "and very considerate of you, plus, a good point, I need her at home at least every other evening to cuddle."

"I know", Buffy winked, "and I wouldn't want to be the one to cause stress in that ridiculously perfect relationship."

"It's not ridiculously perfect", Willow protested, even though half-heartedly – after all, she knew that it almost was, with the two of them hardly ever fighting and, if they did, always making up very quickly.

"Yes it is", Buffy insisted, "don't even try to deny it. When was the last time you had a fight?"

"When Faith was here and was shoving her cleavage into Pat's face and I got jealous", Willow sighed after a moment, realizing that this had happened more than a year ago and thus proving Buffy's point quite well, "unless you count the one we had when I had that parasite thing inside me last month and threw her against the door."

"That one doesn't count", the Slayer immediately decided, "and thus, I rest my case."

"Alright, you win this one", Willow gave in after a moment, realizing that she couldn't really be victorious in this particular argument; clearly satisfied, the Slayer gave her a hearty grin, then they entered the lecture hall together and took seats next to each other there, readying their books, notebooks and pens before they started chatting again, talking about whatever came to their minds until the teacher arrived and they both focused their attention on him and his words.


	4. Chapter 4

Due to Willow's need for cuddling, Pat didn't accompany Buffy on patrol again that night, but stayed at home with her girlfriend; and once the redhead had gotten done with the assignments which had been given to her during the day, the demon gave her best to fulfil that need of her girlfriend, the couple cuddling on the couch and pretending to watch a movie, even though most of the time, they were too distracted by kissing to follow the plot.

"I wish every evening could be like that", Willow finally sighed out, a small, but happy smile curling her lips; smirking as well, Pat nodded, then briefly leaned forward and grabbed her cigarettes, since at least for a few minutes, the kissing apparently had stopped.

"You didn't tell me about your day yet", she stated after she had lit one of them up and had made herself comfortable again, the witch snuggled up against her, "so how did it go? Did Buffy scare away guys again?"

"No", Willow giggled, "we only saw the guy who likes Buffy during psychology class, and he only smiled shyly at her once. I think he's still afraid that she thinks he's weird."

"She does", Pat confirmed, chuckling when her girlfriend's face fell, "but I think I made that a bit better yesterday, during patrol, I told her that most people are fascinated by such stuff and that it's normal. Well, more or less normal, it made us agree on the fact that people are weird."

"Hey!" Willow protested, not fully serious, playfully punching her girlfriend's upper arm lightly, "you're one to talk, _demon_. Do you wanna say I'm weird?"

"Sometimes", Pat smirked, earning another light punch, "but that's one of the reasons why I love you. Plus, I never denied that I'm weird!"

"Well, I can live with that", the redhead smiled, "and I love you, too." With that, she leaned in for another kiss, her eyes lighting up when she pulled back, her voice suddenly sounding excited as she spoke on. "Hey, it's Buffy's birthday soon. Maybe I should drop the guy a hint and ask him to come to the Bronze when we celebrate there."

"My girlfriend, the matchmaker", Pat chuckled, "but sure, good idea. Buffy can need some… company like that in her life again, I guess."

"Oh indeed", Willow agreed, grimacing as she thought of all the time Buffy had spent alone ever since she had broken off things with Spike one and for all, "after that fling with Spike, she really needs a proper boyfriend again."

"Agreed", Pat immediately gave back, "but I still wonder where Spike has gone, we haven't seen him at all since that little run-in with the devil."

"Oh, he does that sometimes", the redhead shrugged, clearly not very worried about the whereabouts of the vampire, "disappears and then comes back, and now that Buffy broke things off with him for sure…"

She trailed off and shrugged, then moved the topic away from Spike by asking Pat if she already an idea what she wanted to give the Slayer for her birthday, making the demon smirk.

"I saw this super-awesome crossbow in one of the catalogues Anya has at the Magic Box", she then revealed her idea, "I think I'll get her that."

"Give her that before the party in the Bronze then", Willow advised with a giggle, "I don't think the owners would be happy if she'd run around with a crossbow there, not to mention the danger it brings when drunk people are around it."

"It's harmless without bolts", Pat pointed out in reply, "but yeah, you're right, I better not give her that there, I don't want some drunk idiot to play with it and maybe break it."

"As if some drunk guy would dare to pick it up when you're standing next to it and are glaring at everyone who does so much as look at it", Willow giggled, making the demon raise an eyebrow before she shrugged the comment off and asked her girlfriend what she wanted to give to the Slayer.

"No weapons", the redhead giggled in reply, "remember that spell I told you about, the one where I accidentally released that huge stinky troll guy? I think I got it right now, so I'll give Buffy a supply of Sunlight-in-a-bag, as I call it, just in case she ends up facing more vampires than planned one night. All she has to do then is throw some of the stuff on the ground and voila – bright light, vampires go poof."

"You know, I'd be worried about how flashy this is if we were in any other town, but here, people will see this without batting an eye", Pat smirked, "so that's a good idea. You want me to come along when you make that stuff? Just in case another big and stinky troll guy pops out."

"I don't think that is very likely to happen", the witch reassured her girlfriend, "but of course I'd like to come along, you know I like it to spend time with you… And you can keep Anya off my back when she tries to give me flak about using stuff from the Magic Box again."

"I'll do that by pulling out my wallet", the demon smirked, making the redhead giggle once more; then, she asked her girlfriend if she wanted a drink as well, getting up from the couch and making her way into the kitchen after Pat had nodded her agreement, smiling to herself as she thought of the upcoming birthday party and of the small setup plan which slowly was forming in her head.

* * *

><p>In the next day, Willow hoped for a chance to catch the student who obviously was into Buffy alone so she could invite him to the party; to her dismay, this chance didn't arise at first, since she shared the classes of the morning with her best friend again, but during lunch, the opportunity she had been waiting for came up when Buffy briefly left her alone at the table to go to the bathroom.<p>

As soon as she could be sure that the blonde was out of earshot and wouldn't come back for some reason, Willow almost jumped up from her chair and rushed to the table where the guy was sitting; he was clearly surprised when she approached him, even though he started to grin widely when she told him about the party and that, if he'd just happen to be at the Bronze that evening, he might have a chance to get to know Buffy a bit better.

"So, she won't think you're weird anymore", she smiled after the invitation, holding back a giggle when the young man let out a dismayed groan in reply, his friends at the table smirking as well, clearly knowing about the incident the redhead had been referring to.

"I'll be there", he then promised her, "thanks for telling me this… She's really cute."

"My pleasure", Willow winked, then told him that he shouldn't be too punctual before she hurried back to her table, sitting down again just in time, Buffy coming back from the restroom not even a minute later.

"Oh, did you wait for me to start eating?" the Slayer wanted to know as she sat down and saw that Willow hadn't touched her food, making the witch nod a bit too enthusiastically; before Buffy could inquire about this though, she changed the topic by asking if the blonde was looking forward to her birthday party, making her nod as well immediately.

"I can't wait to have a night off", she then let Willow know, interrupting herself by taking a bite of her burger before she went on. "It took some time to convince Giles that it'll be okay, but finally, he gave in, and he's even coming for a drink or two."

"Oh wow", Willow gave back, a bit surprised by that – normally, the Watcher avoided coming to such "noisy places", as he called them, and preferred to congratulate the members of the gang in private whenever a birthday came around.

"Yup", Buffy agreed, "I was just as shocked as you are now. I wonder how long he'll stand it to be there." She giggled, making the redhead laugh as well after a moment; the sound of the Slayer's laughter made the guy who had been trying to flirt with her before look at her, Willow's smile widening when she saw the blissful look on his face.

"I wonder what prezzies I'll get", Buffy now distracted her from the sight of the guy crushing on her best friend, "the ones last year quite good, so you'll all have to work on topping them!"

"Well, I know you'll like the one Pat has for you", Willow smirked, immediately shaking her head at the puppy dog look Buffy put on in reply, sounding a bit stern as she spoke on, "and no, I won't tell you. I hope you'll like mine, too, and I have no idea about what Xander and Anya got you."

"No fair, I wanna know now", the Slayer pouted, looking surprisingly childish for a moment as she even crossed her arms; Willow just giggled and shook her head once more, then took a large bite of her burger, prompting Buffy to pout once more – before she laughed as well and picked up her own food, the urge to know what she'd get for her birthday at least for the moment forgotten.

* * *

><p>During the next few days, said urge came back several times, but to her great dismay, Willow always kept quiet about the presents she'd get, continuously telling her to be patient and that soon, she'd see anyway; and clearly, the witch also had instructed her girlfriend quite well, since all Pat did when Buffy asked her about possible presents was to shrug and smile innocently.<p>

"This is so annoying", she finally complained one night, right after staking the third vampire of the night, "Willow told me that I'll like the one you got me and that hers is nice, too, and both of you act like clams when I ask about it! And it's just the same with Xander and Anya and Dawn. You guys are no fun."

"It's more fun to unwrap the presents without knowing what you'll unwrap, right?" Pat demanded to know in reply, smirking at the smaller blonde. "I've been unwrapping presents for two hundred and thirty-five years, and it's still fun."

"I'm surprised you still celebrate your birthday", Buffy teased in reply, chuckling when the demon let out an audible huff. "Doesn't it get boring after a hundred years or so?"

"Nope", Pat immediately gave back, "I think that'll never get boring. Bonuses for the last few birthdays because, after unwrapping the presents, I got to unwrap Willow once you all had left."

"As if you'd do that only on your birthday", Buffy smirked, earning another toothy grin in reply; then, the familiar snarling distracted them from their playful banter, and they both focused again within seconds, tensing up as they waited for the vampire to show his ugly face. It didn't take long until he did so, grinning hungrily, showing his fangs; the moment he saw them though, his grin vanished and his eyes went wide – before he turned and started to run away, startling both Buffy and Pat, the two staring after him for a moment before they looked at each other.

"So much about our reputation", Buffy stated, making the demon nod; they exchanged another look, then started running as well without another word, the black haired woman soon taking the lead and leaving the Slayer behind, her longer legs allowing her to make much bigger strides than the shorter Buffy could even dream of. Clearly eager to get away, the vampire tried to speed up, looking back over his shoulder every now and then; the fourth time he did this, it turned out to be a mistake, his foot getting caught on a thick root, a startled yelp escaping him when he went down.

Cursing, he tried to get to his feet again, scrambling on all fours for a few meters before he regained enough balance to stand up; he only had risen halfway though when he was tackled from behind, and if he still had been breathing, the air would have gotten knocked out of him at the impact.

"Gotcha", he heard the taller one, the one who was called the Slayer's pet demon among him and his friends and kind, snarl into his ear; then, sharp pain raced through his back, and moments later, the world around him was sucked into darkness as the stake penetrated his heart and he turned to dust.

"So unfair", Buffy complained the second she finally had caught up to the demon, who got up and adjusted her eye patch before she looked at her curiously, "you smoke like, what, a pack a day and still run faster than me and you're not even out of breath!"

"Demon", Pat just pointed out in reply, "one of the advantages. Come on, your stake count is still higher than mine."

"It better be, I'm the Vampire Slayer after all", Buffy smirked, watching how the taller woman patted her clothing to get rid of the dust which stuck to it; seconds later, the brief moment of peace they had gotten after finishing off that vampire was interrupted by a high-pitched, female scream, prompting both of them to start running again, this time even without the need to look at each other.

Another scream, this time much closer, made them speed up; and moments later, a tackle happened again, even though this time, it was Pat who ended up on the ground, the woman who had come from her left and had crashed into her on top of her, panting and letting out a shriek loud enough to make the demon's ears ring. Without missing a beat, Buffy leapt over the two on the ground, grabbing the vampire who had been chasing the lady; she delivered two fast punches, knocking him a few steps back, then pulled out her stake and rammed it into his chest, letting out a heavy breath when he turned into a cloud of dust.

"I hate this fucking blind side", Pat grumbled while the woman who had knocked her over came to her feet, clearly out of breath and quite freaked out; still grumbling under her breath, the demon came to her feet again as well, raising an eyebrow when she noticed how Buffy was staring at the woman they just had rescued.

"Professor Rowe!" she then almost cried out, prompting the woman to turn and look at her while the demon realized where she had heard that name before and frowned to herself, asking herself why a psychology professor would walk around the cemetery at night.

"What are you doing out here?" Buffy now wanted to know, having the same thought of her friend, even mimicking her facial expression at the answer of the professor.

"Nightly walks always helped me to be creative and fresh about the assignments and exams for my students", Rowe replied, sounding a bit prickly, "but I have to say, in no other town where I taught so far have I been attacked by deformed men during those walks. Who was that guy? Where did he go?"

"…ran off", Buffy gave back after a moment of hesitation, hoping that despite her knowledge of psychology, the professor wouldn't notice her lie, "we must have scared him off."

"I imagine", Rowe gave back, eying the stake Buffy was still holding, the Slayer noticing a second later and, with an audible clearing of her throat, putting the piece of wood back into the inner pocket of her jacket; for a moment, the professor looked as if she wanted to question her, then clearly shrugged it off, turning to look at Pat and apologizing for running into her.

"Oh that's okay", the demon gave back, "you kinda got me from my blind side. No harm done."

"Next time a deformed man attacks me, I'll keep an eye out for that blind side", the professor smiled, making the taller woman raise an eyebrow as she tried to figure out if this had been a cleverly veiled insult, some weird sort of compliment or a completely harmless remark; clearly not willing to make the decision easier for her, Rowe gave her a smile, then thanked Buffy for helping her, letting her know that she was looking forward to seeing in her class the next day before she walked off, the Slayer and the demon both looking after her in silence.

"Okay, what's up with that remark about keeping an eye out?" Buffy asked as soon as the professor was out of earshot; next to her, Pat let out a snort and shrugged, lighting up a cigarette before she replied, her words making the Slayer giggle. "Psychology professor. Need I say more? They're all weird."

"I guess you're right", the blonde agreed after she had calmed down again, then looked around and listened closely, satisfied when no more snarling or screaming could be heard.

"Come on", she thus stated, "enough for tonight, let's go home." Immediately, Pat nodded her agreement, rolling her eye when, on the way to the cemetery gate, Buffy asked her again about the present she'd get, only smirking a the Slayer afterwards and earning yet another pout in reply, the weird behaviour of the blonde's new professor forgotten.


	5. Chapter 5

Finally, Saturday had arrived, and thus, the time for Buffy to open the presents she had been looking forward to during the last few days; as it had been agreed upon, the whole gang met at the Summers house, where pizza would be eaten and the first drinks of the evening would be had before they'd head on the Bronze for the rest of the party.

"You can open my present now already", Pat told the Slayer, chuckling when she clapped her hands in reply, "Willow and I agreed on the fact that it wouldn't be smart to do that in the Bronze, so… happy birthday."

With those words, she handed the big, rectangular package to the smaller woman; holding back a squeal, Buffy quickly sat down on the couch and started unwrapping it, doing that with so much enthusiasm that wrapping paper flew left and right, her friends watching in amusement.

"Oooh, wow", she gushed the moment the package had been opened, "this is awesome! Thanks!" With those words, she pulled the crossbow out of the package and held it up, admiring it; next to her, Xander suddenly started to beam, then picked up the present he had wrapped up for Buffy, nearly shoving it into her face.

"Open mine next and now!" he demanded, sounding almost as excited as the blonde had looked when she had opened the first gift, "it's perfect!"

"Okay!" Buffy immediately agreed, carefully putting the crossbow on the table in front of her before she accepted Xander's present and opened it in a hurry, her eyes going wide when she found herself looking at a box full with crossbow bolts, expertly crafted, the tips glinting in the living room light.

"I made those", Xander told her proudly, "and we already tested them, they're in the right shape and everything. The tips are steel, but coated in silver, just in case!"

"That's perfect, thanks", Buffy beamed, putting the bolts aside so she could hug at first Pat, then Xander; since the opening of presents already had started, the others figured that they might as well hand their gifts over now and did just that, the eyes of the Slayer lighting up again when she accepted the present Dawn had gotten for her. Just as quick as she had opened the gifts of Pat and Xander, she unwrapped the gift her sister had given her; her eyes lit up again when she pulled the delicate silver chain out of the box, a cross-shaped pendant dangling from it, her sister smiling at her a bit embarrassed and even fidgeting on her seat.

"Aw, thanks Dawn, that's great", Buffy beamed, pulling her sister in for a hug; she quickly put the necklace on, then opened Anya's present next – a scarf and a gift certificate for the Magic Box – followed by Giles' gift, a masterfully crafted sword which made Pat look at it with envy.

"I think I'm the only girl who gets so many violent things for her birthday", Buffy giggled after hugging the ex-demon and the Watcher as well, handing the sword to Pat when she noticed the look on the taller woman's face; briefly, Willow rolled her eyes at how much her girlfriend obviously enjoyed holding that weapon, then focused on Buffy, smiling heartily at her while she brought out the leather pouch which contained her present.

"That's sunlight-in-a-bag", she explained, "better don't try it in here or we'll go blind. Just in case you ever end up overwhelmed by a big army of vamps, all you need to do is take some of that powder and throw it on the ground and say Ignite and – voila – sunlight! It'll last from ten seconds to a minute, depending on how much you'll use."

"Oh that's great, thanks", Buffy smiled, hugging her best friend, Anya speaking up the moment the two had pulled apart again. "She tried doing that once before you know, and then Olaf appeared."

"The huge stinky troll guy", Willow whispered to Pat, the demon nodding distractedly, still busy with admiring the sword Giles had given to the Slayer.

"Give me my sword back", Buffy now demanded, holding her hand out; with a sigh, the demon obliged, then looked at her girlfriend, her next words not really surprising the rest of the gang. "I want one of those for my next birthday. No, wait, what is wrong with me? I want _two_ of those!"

"I'll keep that in mind, Sweetie", Willow giggled, amused by how enthusiastic her girlfriend could become about sharp and pointy objects; Giles promised her that he'd give her the number of the smith who had forged this sword for him, then they all decided it was time to get up and go to the Bronze, leaving the house together not even five minutes later.

* * *

><p>Right after they had arrived at the club, Xander and Anya made their way to the bar to get drinks for everyone while the others found one of the few still free tables and claimed it as theirs; once more grumbling about the non-smoking rules of the club, Pat threw impatient looks towards the bar, trying to spot the couple there and see how successful they were with getting them drinks, thus not noticing how Willow looked around, searching the crowd for the student she had invited without Buffy's knowledge.<p>

"I wish they had some smoker's room or something", Pat now muttered next to her, gaining her attention and making her look at her, a slight smile curling her lips.

"I'll go outside with you later", she then promised, "as soon as I know if… Oh! There he is!"

"Who?" Pat wanted to know, raising an eyebrow at her girlfriend's sudden enthusiasm; before she replied, Willow made sure that Buffy wasn't listening, relieved to see that the Slayer was talking to Giles and not paying any attention on her, but still keeping her voice low when she answered the taller woman's question. "The guy who likes Buffy… I invited him to come here tonight, but I didn't tell Buffy, and I just spotted him, he's over there with some buddies. Let's hope he won't say anything weird again."

"Willow, the matchmaker", Pat smirked in reply, repeating a statement she had made several days ago, the witch nodding and giggling; then, Buffy turned away from Giles and looked at her, forcing her to quickly put on a straight face, the demon next to her not bothering to do the same though, the slightly lopsided smirk remaining where it was, widening slightly when Buffy asked her best friend what she had been laughing about.

"Oh, Pat just told me a joke", Willow lied, smiling innocently while next to her, Pat snorted, nodded though when Buffy suspiciously asked her if this was true; to her relief, the Slayer didn't demand to hear the joke, but nodded after a moment, her eyes lighting up when finally, Xander and Anya returned to the table, both of them carrying several cups of beer.

"That almost makes up for the non-smoking in here", Pat told the young man when he handed one of the cups to her, making him smirk; he quickly handed out the rest of the drinks, making sure to give Dawn the coke she had requested and not one of the beers, then sat down again, Anya doing the same a moment later and raising her cup.

"To Buffy", she started, the rest of the gang wincing as they waited for her to continue the toast, fearing the worst, "may she live for many more years and slay all those pesky monsters and stop all the apocalypses. Only thanks to her, I know the plural of apocalypse. Happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday", the others echoed, making Buffy smile widely before she took a long sip of her drink; moments later, she almost choked when someone poked her from behind, and barely managed to suppress the first instinct this unexpected touch brought up within her, namely to grab the unknown poker and throw him on the table in front of her, turning around in her seat to look at the one behind her instead.

"Hey", the guy who, according to Willow, liked her, beamed at her, "here for a celebration huh? Happy birthday from me too…"

"Thanks…" Buffy gave back, then realized that she didn't even know the guy's name and trailed off, giving him a questioning look; after a second, he figured out what she was aiming for and cleared his throat before he introduced himself. "I'm Barry, by the way, now you don't have to call me That weird guy or something anymore."

"I never called you that", Buffy smirked in reply, not noticing how behind her, Willow grinned from ear to ear, then leaned closer to her girlfriend, her words making the taller woman grin as well. "Barry and Buffy, even their names go well together, don't you think?"

"Sounds like some comedian duo", Pat mumbled in reply, snorting again when the redhead nudged her ribs, both of them distracted moments later though when, to the surprise of everyone, Barry brought out a small present, smiling shyly at the Slayer while he held it out to her.

"I heard you're celebrating your birthday here, so I got you something", he stated, his smile turning a bit sheepish. "So maybe you'll stop thinking I'm weird and creepy."

"This could be considered weird or creepy, as well", Pat muttered into her beer, clearing her throat when she received yet another nudge for that from her girlfriend, but luckily, Barry obviously hadn't heard her, still focused on Buffy, the blonde now accepting the present with a slight smile curling her lips.

"Thanks, that's sweet", she said, clearly not thinking that this was weird or creepy, the rest leaning forward curiously as she unwrapped the present, revealing a small box; with her curiousness growing, Buffy carefully opened it, her breath getting caught in her throat momentarily when she saw the content.

"Oh, thank you", she repeated, removing one of the earrings from the box and holding it up for a closer look, "they're really pretty, Barry, but that wouldn't have been necessary, we barely know each other!"

"But we can get to know each other", he smiled in reply, "and those earrings just seemed kinda fitting to your style, at least what I saw from it so far, so… I'm glad you like them."

"They're very beautiful", Buffy reassured him once more, carefully putting the one earring she had removed from the box back into it and closing it, then tugging it into her pocket, making sure it wouldn't get lost.

"I'm glad you like them", Barry repeated, feeling a bit foolish; before he could worry about this further though, Buffy distracted him by asking him to find a chair and sit down, something he happily did, beaming at her once he had grabbed a chair for himself, the excitement and happiness showing through his expression making Willow smile heartily as well, the witch suddenly sure that now, everything would work out just fine.

* * *

><p>"He got her earrings, can you believe it?" the redhead asked a short time later, outside the Bronze, having accompanied her girlfriend there so the taller woman could have the smoke she had been wanting so badly since they had arrived at the club, "I never would have thought he'd do that."<p>

"Didn't you think it was a bit weird?" Pat wanted to know in reply, shrugging when Willow raised an eyebrow, clearly not thinking the same.

"No", she also verbalized her disagreement, "why?"

"Well, as Buffy herself pointed out, they don't even know each other that well", Pat pointed out, "and earrings are, I dunno, kinda personal? Remember, I gave you earrings when we celebrated your birthday together the first time."

"Of course I remember", Willow reassured her, "and they were so pretty! Prettier than the ones Buffy got today."

"I'm glad to hear", Pat chuckled, "but you still don't think it's weird?"

"Maybe he couldn't come up with anything else on such short notice", the redhead shrugged in reply, "or he got them for someone else and then didn't need them anymore."

"You mean, he got them for his girlfriend and then she broke up with him? It'd be so rude to give them to Buffy then", the demon chuckled, making Willow giggle as well before she shrugged once more.

"Not if Buffy never finds out", she then stated, the taller woman just smirking before she finished her cigarette and threw it aside, stopping the witch though when she turned to walk back inside a moment later.

"Wait a second", she spoke up, making the Willow turn back at her and give her a curious look, her voice sounding a tad strict when she replied. "You don't wanna smoke another one right away, right?"

"Nope", Pat reassured her, "something else I wanna do before we go back in there…"

"And what would that be?" Willow wanted to know, raising an eyebrow, smiling when in response, the black haired woman put both arms around her and pulled her closer; moments later, they were kissing deeply, only to pull apart again moments later though when a throaty growl came up behind them.

"Oh, come _on_", the demon complained, turning around the face the vampire and simultaneously making sure that Willow was behind her, "don't you have a sense for romance? It's not nice to interrupt smooching people."

"Can't help it", the vampire shrugged, grinning a fangy grin at them, "I'm too hungry to wait until you're done. So, which one of you wants to be first?"

He had been expecting them to be frozen with fear, to start gibbering incoherently; to his surprise though, the taller woman turned to the smaller one behind her and gestured at him, not sounding freaked out at all when she spoke up. "You wanna take care of this guy, or should I?"

"Why don't we do it together?" the redhead smiled in reply, then her gaze focused on the vampire; before he had the chance to ask himself if maybe, he had challenged the wrong ones, she brought up her hand and flicked her fingers at him, a motion which looked innocent enough, but all at once sent him flying, a low grunt escaping him when he hit the hard stone wall behind him.

Groaning, he struggled to come to his feet again; just when he had managed to get on all fours, he was kicked in the face, with enough force to get thrown on his back, stars dancing in front of his eyes.

"You know", the voice of the taller woman came up from above him, her foot ending up on his chest and forcing him back down when he tried to sit up, "it was kinda cute that you asked us who'd want to go first, so I'll give you a choice too. Stake or fire?"

"W-what?" the vampire stammered in reply, the tremor in his voice making Pat smirk at him; without lessening the weight she put down on his chest, she reached into her jacket with one hand and brought out the stake, then looked around quickly to make sure no one else was out here before she let her other hand flame up, her smirk widening when the vampire let out a startled squeal at the sight.

"Fire will take longer", she let him know in a low, throaty voice, her good eye starting to glow brightly red, prompting the vampire to squeal again, "but it's much more fun than the stake. At least for me. So what do you say?"

In response, the vampire let out a cry, then grabbed her foot and tried to throw her off-balance; she reacted quickly, clearly giving up on waiting for his answer, the stake coming down, a hoarse gurgle escaping the vampire when it dug itself into his chest, the demon's foot thumping down to the ground heavily moments later as he turned to dust.

"They're getting annoying", Pat stated while she straightened up and put the stake back into her pocket, "you'd think they'd give up here sooner or later, with Buffy around and everything."

"Yeah", Willow agreed, shaking her head, "they never learn, right? And that one was so rude, just interrupting us when we were kissing."

"Wanna go on where we stopped?" Pat smirked, chuckling at how enthusiastically her girlfriend nodded in reply; quickly, she hurried back to her side, the vampire forgotten again moments later, both of them unaware of the eyes watching them from a dark side alley, a small smile curling the lips of the unseen onlooker.

* * *

><p>In the next morning, the sound of the phone ringing tore Willow out of her slumber, and she groaned to herself as she rolled over, forcing one eye open to look at the alarm clock on the nightstand; the red numbers seemed to mock her, telling her that it was nine in the morning, a time which seemed ungodly for a phone call, considering the fact that they only had come home at four a.m. from the party.<p>

Next to her, Pat let out a growl, not even bothering to open her good eye, but reacting by trying to stuff the pillow into her ears; realizing that this call wouldn't be taken if she wouldn't do it, Willow groaned again, then finally got out of bed, rubbing her eyes tiredly while she trotted to the phone and picking it up, pushing the button which took the call.

"Hello?" she yawned into the receiver, holding back the urge to add some not so nice words as a response to waking her up; moments later, all tiredness was gone as she heard a familiar voice sob at the other end of the line, her eyes going wide when she recognized her.

"Dawn?" she brought out, shocked – the last time she had heard the teenager so hysterical was after the death of her mother, and she didn't want to imagine what might have happened to make her sound that way. "Dawnie, what is it? What's wrong?" The alert sound of her voice was enough to wake Pat up as well, the demon standing next to her a few seconds later, giving her a worried look, not asking what was going on though.

"Buffy", Dawn now sobbed, "I can't get her to wake up, I've tried everything, she won't wake up and she's so pale…"

"We'll be there as fast as possible", Willow gave back, "don't try to do anything, okay? Just leave her the way she is, Pat and I are on our way."

"O-okay", Dawn sobbed, making Willow reassure her once more that they'd be there as fast as possible; then, she hung up and turned to look at her girlfriend, her voice trembling slightly as well when she repeated what Dawn just had told her.

"We better get dressed then and go there", the demon agreed once she had finished; Willow nodded her agreement, the couple exchanging a worried look before they hurried back to the bedroom to get dressed, leaving for the Summers' house not even ten minutes later.


	6. Chapter 6

When they arrived there, walking in the fastest pace they could without actually running, Dawn was already waiting for them at the front door, still visibly upset, tears streaming down her face; the moment she spotted the couple approaching her, she ran away from the door and straight into Willow's arms, nearly bowling the redhead over.

"Calm down", Willow helplessly tried to make her do just that, "I'm sure things will be fine, I mean, it's Buffy we're talking about, she's the Slayer and everything!"

"We better check on her", Pat threw in, giving the teenager an uncomfortable look – she never had been good with crying people and probably never would be, no matter how old she'd get. Nodding, Willow carefully disentangled herself from Dawn's embrace, then put an arm around her shoulders and led her back to the house; once inside, she gently asked the teenager where her sister was, making the taller girl hiccup a few times before she mumbled

"Upstairs", one look from the redhead being enough to make the demon nod and go just there.

"Buffy?" she called out as she climbed the stairs, silently hoping that maybe, whatever had been wrong with the Slayer had gone away on its own now and she would get an answer; the house remained silent though, and when Pat entered Buffy's bedroom, she immediately saw why.

Even someone who wouldn't have known the blonde would have been able to figure out at once that something was dreadfully wrong with her; at the first glance, it seemed as if she wasn't even breathing, her breath so slow and shallow that it barely raised her chest, and she was so pale that she almost matched the perfectly white bed sheets. Not sure what to do, Pat moved closer to the bed, then crouched next to it and took a careful hold of Buffy's wrist, searching for a pulse; it took her longer than it should have to find it, and when she finally did, she knew why – her heartbeat was just as slow and light as her breathing, barely there.

"Dammit", the demon mumbled to herself, straightening up again and hurrying back downstairs, where Willow still was trying to comfort Dawn; clearly concerned, the redhead threw her girlfriend a questioning look over the teenager's shoulder, her worry only increasing when Pat shook her head, making her way to the phone and picking up the receiver, dialling Giles' number seconds later, hoping that the Watcher either was up already or that he'd be woken up by the ringing of the phone.

To her relief, he took the call after the second ring, showing that he'd been up already, even though he sounded a bit sleepy; that was gone from his voice though the moment Pat had told him who was calling and he asked her what was going on, knowing that the demon wouldn't call at this hour after going out if there wasn't a good reason.

"I'm not sure", she had to admit, "something's wrong with Buffy. Willow and I are at her house, Dawn called us, you better come here, too."

"I'm on my way", Giles gave back, "I'll be there as fast as possible. Try to calm Dawn down until I get there."

"Will do", Pat reassured him, then hung up and moved to the couch, where Dawn and Willow had sat down by now, giving them both a slightly helpless look.

"Giles is on his way here", she informed them, "maybe he'll know what's going on."

"Have you ever seen something like this before?" the redhead demanded to know in reply, her heart sinking when the demon shook her head, a sigh escaping her before she replied. "Can't remember if I did. She looks… I dunno, her breathing's all shallow and her heartbeat is awfully slow and light."

"At first I thought she's dead", Dawn brought out next to the redhead, looking up at the still standing demon, "then I found her pulse, but… I tried to wake her up, I really did, I even shook her and everything, nothing!"

"Did anything happen when you went home from the Bronze?" Willow wanted to know, disappointed when Dawn shook her head; she exchanged another look with Pat, the demon sitting down next to her girlfriend after a moment.

"Could you find out if someone put a spell on her?" she asked, a bit relieved when immediately, the witch nodded, sounding a bit hopeful as well when she replied. "Should be easy, I don't think I'll even need anything. Come on!"

With those words, she got up from the couch and hurried upstairs, both Pat and Dawn following a second later; together, they entered the bedroom, Willow moving to sit on the edge of the bed while the demon and the teenager kept a safe distance, something Pat had to make Dawn do by grabbing her arm and shaking her head when she wanted to join the witch.

Closing her eyes, Willow held her hands out, her fingertips hovering centimetres over Buffy's chest and stomach; she started to mumble to herself under her breath, a soft breeze filling the room seconds later, both Pat and Dawn holding their breath, letting it out in perfect unison and disappointment when the soft wind died down a few seconds later and the redhead opened her eyes again, her facial expression being enough of an answer before she even spoke up. "Whatever it is that is responsible for this, it's not magic."

"Hello?" Giles' voice drifted up from downstairs before anyone could reply, "where are you all?"

"Up here!" Willow called back, getting up from the bed; suddenly in the need for comfort, she moved over to her girlfriend, smiling weakly when immediately, the taller woman put both arms around her, the couple exchanging a worried look as they waited for Giles to join them, both of them hoping that he'd be able to answer the unpleasant questions Buffy's state had brought up.

* * *

><p>"If it is not a spell, there are not many other options I can think of", Giles stated fifteen minutes later, after checking on Buffy similar to the way Pat had, readjusting his glasses on his nose, his gaze never leaving the lifeless form on the blonde.<p>

"A poison, maybe", he then went on, "or some kind of sickness."

"I don't think you get such a sickness over night", Pat pointed out, "and she was fine when we left the Bronze yesterday."

"And when would anyone have poisoned her?" Willow wanted to know, hating how helpless all of this was making her feel. "Nothing happened when she walked home from the Bronze, and there, it was always us who got the drinks, we would have noticed if someone had tampered with them…"

"Maybe someone injected something when she was on the dance floor?" Dawn hazarded, "I saw something like this on TV once, on CSI I think…"

"Um, well", Pat gave back, clearing her throat, suddenly uncomfortable, "we'd have to check… for puncture wounds then… Willow you do it."

"What?" Willow gave back, a bit startled by this, "why me?"

"Because Dawn's too upset and might miss something, if Giles did it, it'd be icky because he's a guy and, well, old", Pat started, the Watcher interrupting her with an indignant "Hey!", something she ignored though and went on, "and I'm a demon and, like, five times Giles' age. Aaaand you're her best friend, so you do it."

"And we'll wait outside", Giles added, moving past Willow and to the hallway before the redhead could say anything, Pat following him a moment later, taking Dawn outside with her and closing the door. In the bedroom, Willow stared at the door for a few seconds, frowning to herself; then, she shook her head and moved over to the bed, hoping that she wouldn't make anything worse when she carefully unbuttoned the Slayer's pyjama top and removed it, carefully checking every centimetre of skin afterwards.

Outside on the hallway, Pat was fighting the urge to light up a cigarette while she waited for the door to open; keeping her voice low so the redhead wouldn't hear in the bedroom, she turned to Giles and asked him if what Dawn had suggested was possible, feeling a bit relieved when the Watcher nodded.

"If done right, she wouldn't even notice the injection", the Brit then told her, "even though it would take an expert to do that. Someone who's done this a thousand times before, who makes a living of it."

"An assassin, you mean", the demon sighed out, throwing the Watcher an unhappy look. "Like me."

"Like your past you", Giles corrected her, "but I'm afraid so, yes. You don't happen to know any former… colleagues who work this way and who might be after Buffy, right?"

"Are you kidding me?" Pat sighed as an answer, "I know hundreds of assassins who work with poisons. And of those, most are demons, so of course they'd be after Buffy."

"This is not helpful", Giles pointed out, the tone of his voice making Pat cross her arms over her chest and glare at him, once more amazing him with how well she could do that with just one eye.

"Well, your question wasn't, either", she then told him, "you of all people should know that poison is a preferred weapon of many, many assassins. I've actually used it myself a few times."

"I didn't need to know that", the Watcher primly let her know, earning another glare in response; before the demon could come up with a snarky answer though, the door opened and Willow stepped out on the hallway, her cheeks slightly reddened.

"Nothing", she told her friends and girlfriend, "and I checked everywhere. And I mean _everywhere_."

At the last word, she blushed even deeper and cleared her throat; to her relief, no one felt the need to make any comments, the Watcher merely let out a sigh while Pat and Dawn exchanged worried looks, all of them knowing that now, it'd be time to hit the books – but also well aware of the fact that maybe, they'd have much less time than they might need to find the answers.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day was spent with going through various books Anya and Xander had brought from the Magic Box after Giles' call there; Dawn made litres of coffee in the kitchen, and in the evening, they ordered pizza, even though none of them felt much like eating anything.<p>

Finally, it was Giles who called it quits, figuring that by now, they all were too tired to concentrate properly anyway; he snapped the book he had been going through shut, then cleared his throat as he turned towards Pat, the demon holding back the urge to roll her good eye as she knew what was coming, speaking up before he had the chance to do so. "Yes I'm tired, but no, I don't mind taking over patrol tonight."

"Thank you", the Watcher gave back after a moment of stunned silence, asking himself if he really was that predictable; then, he shrugged it off and nodded, giving the black haired woman a grateful look.

"We better get going then", the demon stated, already rising from the couch, "I still need to get some weapons from the apartment…"

"Can't you stay here? I don't wanna be alone", Dawn demanded to know in reply, looking at the redhead; slightly surprised, Willow nodded after a moment, glancing up at her girlfriend afterwards.

"Buffy has some weapons in her room", she reminded the black haired woman of the fact that she was in the Slayer's home, "you can take those, right? And then come back here, after patrol?"

"Um, sure", Pat gave back, "but don't wait up, I have no idea how long it'll take if I do it alone…"

"Alright", Willow said, then got up as well, stepping up to the taller woman and kissing her quickly, telling her to be careful afterwards.

"I won't lie and tell you I always am", the demon gave back, smirking slightly, "but I'll try to be less reckless than usual."

"That's fine with me", Willow smiled, stealing another kiss before she finally let her go; the demon still took the time to tell the others to be careful, as well, then hurried upstairs to get some weapons before she left, Giles, Anya and Xander soon heading for their homes as well, leaving Willow and Dawn behind alone. For a while, the two sat in silence, the witch drinking her coffee, wondering if she'd be able to sleep at night; then, Dawn spoke up, breaking the uncomfortable silence and making the witch look at her. "What if we never figure out what's wrong? What if… Buffy dies?"

"She won't", Willow gave back at once, putting her cup back down on the table and moving closer to the teenager, carefully putting an arm around her.

"We figure everything out, don't we?" she then went on when the younger girl didn't reply, "that's what we're really good at it. Hey, I had some alien baby thing growing inside me not all too long ago and we figured that one out, too."

"No we didn't", Dawn immediately corrected her, "we only realized what's going on when you gave birth to that thing."

"I did not give birth to it", the witch protested, dismayed about the fact that the teenager had remembered this particular little, but important detail, "I puked it out. That's not giving birth."

"If you say so", Dawn dryly gave back, then even managed to smile weakly, her next words making the witch smirk slightly as well. "Bet Pat unleashed her best curses when that happened."

"Oh yes, and all of them in a row, it nearly made my ears fall off", Willow grimaced, "and I didn't even reprimand her because I was too busy with being grossed out and everything. She's getting better about that though."

"I hope Buffy will get better again, too", Dawn sighed out in reply, the brief good mood she had displayed for a few seconds gone again as she looked at the stairway; not sure what to reply, Willow just put her hand on the teenager's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze, making the brunette smile at her weakly, silence filling the room again afterwards as they sat next to each other, the Slayer and her mysterious condition never leaving their mind.


	7. Chapter 7

Several hours later, Willow awoke with a jerk when she heard the front door open, briefly grimacing when pain flared up in her back and neck, reminding her of the fact that she had fallen asleep in a rather uncomfortable position on Buffy's couch; next to her, Dawn slumbered on undisturbed, the sound of the door closing again distracting the witch from the rather cute sight though. Making sure that she wouldn't wake Dawn up, she carefully got up from the couch and snuck towards the hallway, mentally preparing a spell in case it would be someone else than her girlfriend who just had entered; to her relief, it was Pat though, the demon giving her a smile and a shrug when she asked how it had been.

"The usual", the black haired woman then mumbled, keeping her voice low as well, figuring that her girlfriend had had a reason to do so, "a few vamps and one random demon who thought it'd be a good idea to tackle me from behind."

"Did he hurt you?" the redhead wanted to know, sounding slightly worried; smirking, Pat shook her head, then told her that she simply had flamed up and had burned "the shit out of that creep", making the witch giggle before she reprimanded the taller woman with the usual "Language", another giggle escaping her when the demon rolled her good eye in reply.

"How's Dawn?" she then asked, the smile fading from Willow's face while she shrugged, looking towards the living room afterwards, her voice showing her worry when she replied. "A bit better, I think, but not much… She's worried."

"Like we all are", Pat sighed, asking the next question even though she already knew the answer. "And Buffy? Any changes?"

"None since I last checked on her", Willow told her what she had been expecting to hear. "Let's wake up Dawn so she can go to bed and then we can check on her once more", the redhead added, making her girlfriend nod; together, they returned into the living room, waking Dawn up there and telling her that she'd sleep better in her bed than on the couch, making their way upstairs with her afterwards.

"Sleep well", Willow told the teenager in front of her bedroom door; Dawn nodded and smiled weakly, then entered her room and closed the door behind herself while Pat and Willow moved on to Buffy's room, not really surprised to find the state of the Slayer hadn't changed.

"I just wish we knew what is happening to her", the redhead sighed after just looking at her best friend for a while; next to her, Pat nodded, putting an arm around her shoulders to give her some comfort, making her smile weakly again.

"Come on", she then sighed, "let's go back down and ready the couch, I'm tired…"

"So am I", the demon agreed, yawning as if to underline her point; both looked at Buffy once more, then made their way downstairs together, readying the couch for the night there before they undressed and laid down to get some sleep, the house soon falling silent as they drifted off into slumber.

* * *

><p>In the next morning, Dawn's alarm clock tore her out of her uneasy slumber, and the first thing she thought of was Buffy and her still unexplained state; even though she knew that it was silly, she allowed herself to hope while she got out of bed and put on her bathrobe, then made her way to her sister's bedroom, her heart sinking when she found her in the same state she'd been in when she had gone to sleep the previous night.<p>

Holding back the urge to sigh, the teenager moved closer to the bed and tenderly touched her sister's cheek, her heart clenching up at how cold the skin felt; she took another moment to make sure Buffy's heart was still beating and that she was still breathing, then finally left the room again and made her way downstairs, smiling slightly when she entered the living room and spotted Willow and Pat on the extendable couch, both of them still slumbering soundly, the witch snuggled up to her girlfriend.

Deciding that she wouldn't wake them up yet and that she wouldn't go to school that day, not as long as they had no idea what was wrong with Buffy, knowing that she wouldn't be able to concentrate on the lectures anyway. With that decision made, Dawn moved from the living room into the kitchen, filling the coffee machine there and switching it on before she checked the fridge, quickly settling on cereal when she saw that there still was enough milk; just when she had finished filling up her bowl, footsteps from the living room made her look towards the kitchen door, a small smile appearing on her face when she saw Willow enter.

"Good morning", she then greeted, "did you sleep well? I know that couch isn't the most comfortable place to sleep, but…"

"It's okay", Willow reassured her, stretching afterwards, "I think I slept halfway on Pat most of the night anyway, and that's always comfy."

"For her, too?" Dawn asked with a smirk, making the redhead giggle before she shrugged, then she gestured towards the living room, still smiling when she replied. "Well, I guess so, since she's still asleep. And you know how she is when she's woken up too early, so I suggest we don't wake her up yet."

"Agreed", Dawn gave back, sitting down at the kitchen counter with her cereal while Willow moved to the coffee machine and checked how far the coffee was done, turning around again though when the teenager was speaking on behind her. "Um… Are you gonna go to college today? Because, well, I honestly don't want to go to school as long as Buffy…"

She trailed off, not sure how to finish; as an answer, Willow let out a sigh, then shrugged, smiling at the brunette slightly ruefully.

"Well, I guess I have to, if only to tell the professors that Buffy's… sick", she then told Dawn, "but it'll be okay if you don't go to school for a day or two… Pat will stay here with you if you want her to, so you won't be alone."

"I'd like that", Dawn admitted, "I know this is a horrible thing to say, but… I don't wanna be alone with Buffy as long as… she's like this… and what if something happens?"

"I'm sure things will be fine", Willow reassured her, moving over to her and giving her a hug; moments later, they both looked over to the door as a familiar deep voice came from there, making both of them smile. "First thing I see in the morning, my girlfriend hugging the sister of her best friend. Should I get jealous?"

"Don't be silly", Willow chided in reply, pulling back from the hug and moving over to Pat to give her the same treatment, along with a good morning kiss, smiling up at the taller woman afterwards.

"I'm never silly", the demon mumbled, surprisingly coherent, considering the fact that she just had gotten up, "with my age, that's impossible. Age makes wise, you know."

"If you say so", Willow smirked, ignoring the way the taller woman raised an eyebrow at her afterwards and moving back to the coffee machine where the coffee had gotten done by now, finding two clean cups in the cupboard and pouring the steaming hot liquid into the them, smiling at Dawn when she handed her the carton of milk.

"Do you mind if we stay here for a while?" she then asked, looking at her girlfriend again, a look which quickly turned strict when she saw that the demon had her pack of cigarettes in hand, making her sigh before she tucked it back into her pocket.

"Nope", she then stated, "no problem at all, I'll just go to our place and get some clothes and stuff, then we'll be all set to keep you company, Dawn."

"Great", the teenager sighed out, clearly relieved, "thanks so much…"

"With clothing and stuff, she means clothing, her favourite axe and her stash of cigarettes", Willow helpfully informed Dawn, prompting Pat to roll her good eye before she shrugged, sounding a bit indignant when she replied. "I happen to really like that axe, okay? It's… cute."

"You're the only person in the world who'd call an axe cute", Willow pointed out, "but that's one of the reasons why you're so cute to me."

"You two are like an old married couple", Dawn giggled before the demon could reply anything, making them both grin at her; then, Willow finished her coffee and let her girlfriend and Dawn know that she'd have a quick shower before she'd leave for college.

"Get some of my stuff too, will you", she stated, Pat just nodding in reply, holding back any snarky comments which might have popped into her mind; smiling, Willow moved up to her for a quick and innocent kiss, then moved upstairs to the bathroom while Pat and Dawn finished their breakfast, silence filling the room as they both sat and wondered how to help Buffy and how this situation might be solved.

* * *

><p>At college, Willow took the time to inform the student office that Buffy was sick and that it wasn't sure yet when she'd return; the lady there told her that it was no problem and that she'd mark it down so the teachers would know, making the redhead smile weakly while she thanked her, then moved to the room where her first class of the day would be held, painfully aware of Buffy's absence when she sat down alone.<p>

"Hey, Willow", Barry's voice distracted her from her musings, making her look up at him and return his greeting.

"Where's Buffy?" the young man wanted to know, sitting down next to her and giving her a curious look, his face falling when the witch replied. "At home, she's sick."

"Aw, I'm sorry to hear that", Barry gave back, sounding so honestly concerned that it made Willow smile, "I was hoping I'd get to talk to her again…"

"And that she'd wear the earrings you got her?" the redhead teased, giggling slightly when the young man blushed brightly in reply; before he could say anything though, the door opened and Professor Rowe entered, greeting the class as she made her way to the lectern in her usual fast stride.

Without wasting much time on small talk, the blonde asked her students to open their textbooks to a certain page, barely giving them enough time to do so before she started talking; giving her best to pay attention, Willow tried to focus on what the professor was saying, something which was harder than usual though, thanks to the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she was missing something important and that this small detail, whatever it might be, could be the solution to the problem the gang was facing.


	8. Chapter 8

The nagging feeling remained for the rest of the day, no matter what she tried to get rid of it; and by the time she came back to Buffy's house, it was quite annoying, the emotion showing on her face when she stepped inside and immediately prompting her girlfriend to ask if something had happened, the witch letting out a sigh in reply.

"I'm not sure", she then mumbled, putting her book bag down next to the door, "it's weird… You know that feeling you have when you think you've forgotten something important, or are missing something important? I've been having that all day long."

"Concerning Buffy?" the demon wanted to know, not surprised when Willow nodded, another sigh escaping her afterwards, even though she smiled weakly again when the taller woman pulled her into a comforting embrace.

"I'm sure it'll come to you, if it really is something important which you're missing", she mumbled, moving one hand to caress her hair and making her close her eyes while she rested her head against the taller woman's chest, "and if there's nothing, well, it'd be natural to feel that way, I mean, it's your best friend who's sick without a clear reason."

"I guess you're right", Willow sighed out, finally pulling back from the embrace and looking up at her girlfriend. "You know", she went on, "I was wondering if that spell might work, you know the one where you lend your healing abilities to someone else?"

"It's worth a try", Pat shrugged, "right now, Dawn's with her, but we can do that once she's come back out."

"Poor Dawnie", the redhead mumbled in reply, "this must be so hard on her…"

"She's doing quite well actually", Pat reassured her, "while you were at college, she made me watch those horrendous music videos on MTV with her and then, she even wanted me to dance, but I told her the only dancing I do is to my kind of music. Which she doesn't like at all."

"And banging your head can barely be called dancing", Willow pointed out, glad that the demons attempt to lighten the mood a bit had helped; shrugging, Pat smirked at her, then bent down for another kiss, the couple pulling apart again just when Dawn came down the stairs.

"Hey Willow", she greeted, sounding better than the redhead would have expected her to, even though her face fell when the witch asked her if anything had changed.

"No", she sighed out, moving on into the kitchen to get herself a drink and raising her voice so the couple in the hallway could still hear her. "She's still out cold, nothing's changed…"

"We better figure something out quickly", Willow mumbled, "if that doesn't work now…"

"If what doesn't work?" Dawn wanted to know, joining them in the hallway with a can of iced tea in one hand; quickly, Willow explained the spell and what it did to her, the teenager's eyes lighting up at the thought that this might cure whatever strange sickness had brought her sister down.

"You think this could work?" she demanded to know, sounding so excited that Willow felt it was her duty to calm her down, just in case it wouldn't work out the way they hoped.

"I don't know", she thus said, "but it's worth a try, right?"

"It is and that's why we'll go to Buffy's room now", Pat stated, raising an eyebrow moments later as another thought came to her mind. "Wait", she added, looking at her girlfriend, "you do have some of that powdery stuff you need for the spell with you, right?"

"I do if you brought my magic box", Willow gave back, smiling when the demon nodded and gestured at the wooden box she had put on the living room table.

"Great", the witch beamed, moving to the box and opening it, quickly finding the right jar; clutching it tightly so she wouldn't drop it, she nodded at the two, and all together, the three of them made their way upstairs and into Buffy's bedroom, sharing the hope that the spell would heal whatever was wrong with the Slayer and that everything would be fine again.

* * *

><p>Not even five minutes later, Pat stood next to the bed, grasping one of Buffy's hands, Willow and Dawn keeping a safe distance to the demon – so far, the spell always had made at least her free hand flame up whenever it had been cast, and neither of them was keen on getting burned by accident.<p>

"You didn't demon out to heal any bad wounds during the last two days, right?" Willow wanted to know, not ready to begin the spell before she'd been given the answer to this quite important question, knowing very well what would happen if she'd do the spell and Pat had used her demonic side to heal any drastic wounds lately.

"Nope", the demon now reassured her, to her obvious relief; before Dawn could ask her though why this was important, she took in a deep breath, then told the teenager to be quiet, explaining that she needed to be highly concentrated for the spell to work. Nodding, Dawn took another step back, never having seen that spell before and not sure what other side effects, aside from spontaneous combustion from Pat, she had to expect; Willow gave her a brief smile, then took in another deep breath before she started chanting, her gaze never leaving Buffy's motionless form on the bed as she recited the spell.

It didn't take long until the final word had been said, the witch holding her breath afterwards, Dawn doing the same next to her as they both waited to see if the demon's free hand would flare up and the healing would begin; to their dismay, no such thing happened though, and after a minute had ticked by, Pat frowned, then looked at her girlfriend, sounding concerned when she spoke up. "You did the spell correctly, right?"

"Yes", the witch replied without thinking twice about it – by now, the spell had been done several times, often enough to reassure her that she had done it right now.

"It's not working then", the taller woman sighed out, looking down on Buffy with dismay, "whatever this is, my healing can't help with it. So, it's not a normal sickness…"

"Then what is it?" Dawn cried out in dismay, running one hand through her hair nervously while Pat let go of the Slayer's hand and stepped back from the bed, "if she's not sick and it's not a spell, what is it?"

"Not many options left, are there?" Pat sighed, holding back the urge to light up a cigarette right there, "someone must have poisoned her."

"But how?" Willow asked what she already had been wondering about ever since they had found Buffy like that, "remember, we've checked for puncture wounds, and at the Bronze, no one could have…"

She trailed off and frowned to herself as once more, the nagging feeling that she was missing something important had come up; curiously, Pat watched her, raising a hand to shush Dawn when the teenager looked as if she wanted to say something, knowing that expression on her girlfriend's face well enough by now to figured out that the redhead was on to something.

"It couldn't have been at the Bronze", the witch repeated to herself, slowly moving over to the bed and looking down at Buffy, her mind running wild. "And we checked for puncture wounds…"

Her hand came up to rub at her forehead, her thoughts practically up to lightning speed now as she replayed the day in front of her inner eye, trying to figure out when that nagging feeling that she was missing something had come up exactly. _I was hoping I'd get to talk to her again… And that she'd…_

"The earrings!" Willow cried out as it finally hit her, her eyes going wide, her outcry startling both Pat and Dawn enough to make them flinch.

"What about them?" Dawn wanted to know, clearly not able to follow that particular train of thought; to her dismay, Willow ignored her though, turning to look at her girlfriend. "Is this possible? Poisoning something with earrings?"

"I guess so", Pat gave back, "we'd have to check them… Don't touch them!" The last three words were spoken quite sharply, stopping the witch in mid-movement, her fingers centimetres away from the earring in the Slayer's left ear, her face surprised when she looked at her girlfriend.

"If they are poisoning people just by putting them in already existing ear holes, that's some pretty strong poison", the demon pointed out, "and I don't want you to join Buffy in that state. Wait…"

With those words, she hurriedly left the room; when she came back a few minutes later, she had put on a pair of rubber cleaning gloves, briefly making Willow wonder if this was really necessary – before she shrugged it off, figuring that it was better to be safe than sorry. Quickly, she stepped aside, giving her girlfriend some room while Pat bent over Buffy's lifeless form, carefully moving her hair aside, then opening the earrings and taking them off; for a moment, she hesitated, clearly not sure where to put them, then finally lowered them on the nightstand carefully before she took off her gloves, making sure to turn them inside out in the process.

"Throw those into the trash", she then mumbled, handing them to Dawn without even looking at her, her gaze fixed on the earrings, "and get me one of those plastic bags you use for sandwiches and stuff…"

"Okay", Dawn gave back, momentarily feeling as if she had stepped into an episode of CSI, giving the demon a curious look, but not asking any questions, merely leaving the room and making her way downstairs.

"We need to get those earrings checked", Pat mumbled to Willow as soon as the teenager was out of earshot, "but if you're right, that might be highly dangerous. Honestly though, I see no other way this could have been done, now that you pointed it out… I said it's weird when he gave them to her!"

"Do you know how to find out if they've been poisoned?" Willow wanted to know in reply, for now deciding that she wouldn't comment on Barry and the weirdness of him giving Buffy the earrings; after a moment, Pat nodded, then let out a small sigh, sounding a bit calmer when she answered.

"I'll need some stuff to do it", she then let the redhead know, "and it'll take me a while to get it all. I'll be back as fast as possible, when Dawn comes back with the plastic bag, put the earrings in there, and don't touch them directly, okay?"

"You think they are that dangerous?" the witch asked, now sounding worried, her concern only increasing when Pat nodded, gesturing at the lifeless body of the Slayer as if to underline her next words. "If I'm not mistaken, Buffy put them into already existing holes and it had that kind of effect on her, so… Contact with the skin's apparently enough to let the poison kick in, so please be careful with them."

"I will", Willow promised, "and you be careful too…" Nodding again, the demon gave her a smile which she hoped would calm her down; then, she bent down for a quick kiss before she left the room, hurrying off to get whatever she'd need to determine if the earrings indeed had been poisoned while Willow stayed where she was, looking down on the unconscious Slayer and silently hoping that soon, they'd be able to come up with a solution for this whole unpleasant situation.


	9. Chapter 9

While they waited for Pat to come back, both Willow and Dawn tried to pass the time by pretending to watch TV; just as the demon had instructed them, they had put the earrings into the plastic bag Dawn had brought from the kitchen, doing so by turning the bag inside out and grasping the earrings through the protective layer of plastic, making sure that they wouldn't touch them and end up getting poisoned as well.

To the redhead's dismay, it took almost two hours until the front door finally opened and her girlfriend returned, carrying a plastic bag and looking satisfied; the moment she stepped into the living room, Dawn jumped up from her seat, a mixture of excitement and worry in her voice when she demanded to know if the demon had managed to get everything she'd need to find out if the earrings really had been poisoned.

"Yup", Pat gave back, putting the plastic bag on the table and removing several bottles in various size and shape from it, "sorry it took so long, but I had to beat Willy the snitch up first so he'd tell me where to find the guy who sells all that stuff, and then, I had to beat up that guy because he didn't want to help at first."

"You didn't tell him that Buffy's been poisoned, right?" Willow wanted to know, sounding alarmed, her relief clearly showing on her face when her girlfriend shook her head and gave her an incredulous look.

"Of course not", she then stated, "what do you think I am, stupid?"

"No, of course not, sorry", the witch hurried to apologize; quickly shrugging it off, the taller woman gave her a smile, then reached into the plastic bag once more and pulled out a pair of gloves, looking like the ones used by doctors and nurses in the hospitals.

"I hope I still remember how to do it properly", she muttered to herself, looking at the bottles and finally choosing a small one filled with clear liquid, "it's been a while since I had to do that… Fifty or sixty years."

"Oh my", Willow grimaced, fidgeting around on her seat nervously while she watched how her girlfriend poured some of the clear liquid into the only empty bottle she had brought, then added a few drops from another bottle, filled with a red, thick substance; this went on for a while, the demon mixing the various liquids she had brought along and Willow watching, her heart beating up to her throat as she wondered what might happen if Pat messed up, images of explosions and poisonous gas clouds forming in her mind.

"Okay", the demon finally mumbled, eying the mixture in the bottle, "now let's see if I got it right…"

Carefully, she picked up the bag with the earrings and pulled them out; without even noticing that she was holding her breath, Willow watched how Pat threw them into the bottle, then picked it up and moved it slightly, making its content slosh slightly, but not enough that anything would be spilled.

It didn't take long until a reaction started to set in, the witch's eyes going wide when she saw how the earrings slowly turned black, a thin column of smoke curling from the bottle, filling the room with a rather unpleasant stench and prompting Dawn to grimace before she got up and opened the window, sounding worried when she turned to look at the demon.

"That smoke's not poisonous, is it?" she demanded to know, relieved when immediately, Pat shook her head, her gaze never leaving the earrings while she replied. "No, just smells horribly, but that's what we've been looking for… They've definitely been poisoned."

She let out a sigh, then looked at her girlfriend, gesturing at the bottle once more as she spoke on. "I guess it's time to talk to Barry, huh? Do you know if he lives on campus?"

"I think he does", Willow gave back, suddenly feeling dizzy as she fully realized for the first time what was happening, "but why would he do that? Why would he poison her? He seemed like such a nice guy…"

"Assassins always do when they work like that", Pat sighed, picking the bottle up again once it had stopped steaming, "and maybe we'll find out why he'd do that after we questioned him. Let me just get them out of that bottle and then we'll go pay him a visit."

"Alright", the witch agreed, still feeling unsettled by the whole situation; Pat gave her a calming smile, then vanished into the kitchen to empty the bottle's content into the sink there, Willow turning in her seat to look at Dawn as she waited for the demon to come back.

"I'll take my cell phone with me", she let the teenager know, "so if anything happens, just call and we'll come running, alright?"

"Alright", Dawn agreed, running one hand through her hair, her voice trembling slightly when she spoke on. "I can't believe he really could have done this… He seemed so nice at the Bronze…"

"I know", Willow gave back, getting up from the couch and moving to the teenager, placing a comforting hand on her arm, "but we'll find out, I promise. You know how… convincing Pat can be."

"Yeah", Dawn gave back, to Willow's relief smiling slightly; she smiled back at her, then Pat came back from the kitchen and asked her if she was ready to go, making her nod and tell Dawn once more to call if anything should happen before they both put on their shoes and jacket and left the house together, heading for the campus of UC Sunnydale to find Barry and have a more or less peaceful talk with him.

* * *

><p>Once they had arrived at the campus, Willow stopped the first student she knew and asked him if he knew Barry from their psychology class and if he knew where he lived; to her dismay, the student had no idea, told her though that he had seen one of Barry's buddies in the cafeteria and that he might know.<p>

Thanking him, the redhead made her way to the building where the cafeteria was located with her girlfriend in tow; as always when they were there, they both prompted several people to stare after them – it was well-known among the students that Willow was with the taller woman walking next to her, but the fact that said woman was wearing an eye patch always made people stare and probably always would, something which had annoyed them both at first, but which they didn't even notice anymore now.

The moment she stepped into the cafeteria, Willow spotted the guy the student she had asked about Barry had been talking about – just like Barry himself, he was in their psychology class and always sat next to Barry, the two of them often whispering loud enough to make the professor call them out on it.

"There he is", she whispered to Pat, then made her way over to the guy, her girlfriend trotting along behind her; forcing herself to smile, since she didn't want Barry's buddy to notice that something was amiss, she greeted him cheerfully, her smile becoming a bit more genuine when he returned the greeting and then asked her how she was doing.

"Fine, thanks", she let him know, "and you?"

"Oh, fine, too", he reassured her, then raised an eyebrow and smirked again, slight mischief in his voice when he spoke on. "Well, since the girlfriend you mention to Buffy quite often is standing right behind you, I assume you're not here to ask me out or something, but I figure there's something I can do for you anyway, so what is it?"

"Actually I'm looking for Barry", Willow told him, a bit stunned at how fast he had figured out the reason why she had found him here, "you don't happen to know where he is, right?"

"It's your lucky day", the guy smirked, "I do know where he is, or, better said, where he was fifteen minutes ago, which is in his dorm room. Stevenson, room number 68. What do you need from him?"

To her horror, the witch realized that she hadn't thought of an answer to that question before she had gone on the small quest to find out where Barry was; to her great relief though, Pat jumped in with the answer and saved her from the embarrassment of having to stutter and stumble while trying to figure out what to say.

"Actually it's Buffy who needs something from him, she's got to give him something, but she's at home sick, so she asked us to get that done for her", the demon lied, Willow nodding her agreement and holding back the urge to throw her girlfriend a grateful look.

"Oh, he'll be happy about that, he really likes Buffy", the guy now smirked, clearly buying the lie; smiling again, Willow nodded, then thanked him for his help before she grabbed her girlfriend's hand and hurried out of the cafeteria with her, letting out a heavy breath the moment the door had fallen close behind them.

"Thank goodness you came up with that answer", she mumbled to the taller woman while they hurried out of the building and made their way to Stevenson Hall, "I was totally drawing a blank there…"

"I noticed", the demon smirked, "good thing I'm quick with thinking on my feet every now and then."

"Yeah, thankfully", the witch sighed out, "and I think he bought it hook, line and sinker. Now let's just hope Barry's still in his room or we'll be back to the starting point."

"Even if he's gone, we'll run into him sooner or later, the campus is not that big", Pat pointed out, "unless, well… unless he left town already."

"Left town?" Willow echoed, her eyes going wide, the taller woman giving her a dismayed look while she nodded.

"Yeah", she then started to explain, "well… If he is an assassin and was here just to poison Buffy and kill her, and now he knows she's sick…"

She trailed off and shrugged, feeling bad for pointing this out when she saw the shocked look on Willow's face, both of them knowing that, without the one who had done this, it'd be close to impossible to find out which poison exactly had been used – and if Barry had fled town, finding him would be considerably harder, if not even impossible.

"Let's see if he's there before we start worrying about that", the black haired woman now tried to calm her down, "after all, his buddy said he saw him just fifteen minutes ago… Well, twenty by now… and I doubt he left in that short time span. And even if he did, it'll be easier to find him if his head start is that short."

"Good point", Willow had to admit, feeling a bit calmer now; still her heart beat up to her throat as she made her way to the door of room number 68 with her girlfriend, holding her breath when she knocked, waiting to see if Barry would still be there and would give them the answers they needed – or if this would take much longer to solve than they were hoping right now.


	10. Chapter 10

The door opened a few moments after she had knocked, but still those moments were the longest Willow ever had spent standing in front of a door; not even when she had gone to Tara's room that one fateful night, with a candle in her hands and the urge to set everything right in her mind had she felt like that, so full with anticipation and fear. Sensing how tense her girlfriend was, Pat put one hand on her shoulder and gave it a calming squeeze; before the redhead could react to this, the door opened and she found herself looking at Barry, the student clearly surprised to see her.

"Hey, Willow", he greeted, then looked at the slightly taller Pat, obviously asking himself what she was doing there, but either not daring or not bothering to ask that question out loud.

"Is something up?" he asked instead, focusing on the redhead again and giving her a curious look; nodding, Willow asked if they could come in, not bothering to fake a smile this time.

"Um, sure", he gave back, stepping aside so they could enter, closing the door behind them again; the moment it had clicked shut, he regretted it though, since Pat turned around to look at him and gave him such a glare that he felt like tearing the door open and running away.

"Remember those?" she asked him, pulling a plastic bag from the pocket of her jacket and throwing at him; he barely managed to catch it, and after he had, it took him some fumbling around until he was able to look at the contents, frowning when he recognized the earrings he had gotten for Buffy, even though for some reason, they had turned from their normal silver colour to black.

"What happened to them?" he demanded to know, stunned, "I swear I thought they're real, if I'd known they aren't I—"

He got cut off and let out a squeal when all at once, Pat took a step forward and grabbed his collar with both hands, his eyes going wide when he was lifted off his feet a second later, the black haired woman to his astonishment not even breaking into a sweat.

"Cut the crap", she snarled at him, "and fess up."

"What are you talking about?" he squealed, helplessly kicking his feet as he struggled to be put back down, his eyes moving to Willow, the fear she could see in them momentarily making her wonder if maybe, it hadn't been him after all – before she told herself that, if he really was an assassin, he'd be a good actor, as well, and shrugged it off.

"What's going on?" Barry demanded to know, his eyes going wide again when he felt the demon tighten her grip on his collar, "please, I have no idea what you want, I swear!"

"Put him down", Willow instructed after looking at him for another moment, "maybe he'll be more willing to talk when his feet are on the ground."

For a few horrible seconds, Barry was sure that this crazy woman wouldn't listen to her girlfriend; then, she snarled and dropped him, nearly making him fall, another squeal escaping him while he fought to stay on his feet, ending up banging against the door.

"Talk about what?" he demanded to know as soon as he could be sure he wouldn't fall, "I have no idea what you want from me, honestly!"

In response, Willow bent down to pick up the plastic bag he had dropped when her girlfriend had picked him up and held it up, nearly shoving it into his face, her voice cold and hard as well when she spoke up. "We know those have been poisoned. Now all we want to know is why you did it, how, and where we can get the antidote, and then you're free to go."

"Poisoned?" he squealed, his eyes going wide, "you mean this is the reason why Buffy is sick? Oh, my God!"

"Oh please", Pat now snarled, giving him a glare that made his knees turn into pudding, the unpleasant sensation forcing him to grab for the door in an attempt to keep his balance, a breathless cry escaping him when she took a step closer to him, her good eye flaring up brightly red.

"Pat", Willow stopped her to his obvious relief before she could do more than that though, "don't…"

"What?" the demon sharply gave back, turning to look at her girlfriend with disbelief, "you're not buying this crap, are you?"

"I think I am", the redhead gave back, her gaze moving from the taller woman to the obviously terrified Barry, her voice a bit kinder when she spoke on. "I don't think he's acting. He really has no idea, right, Barry?"

"No idea", he hurried to agree, eying the black haired woman and fighting down the urge to tear the door open and to run away, horrid mental images of how she'd chase him down the hall – and probably catch him sooner or later, the young man not even wanting to imagine what she might do to him then – filling his mind.

"What's going on?" he thus asked once more, looking a bit dismayed when Pat found her cigarettes and lit one of them up; to Willow's amusement, he didn't have the courage to tell her not to smoke though, instead looking like he'd faint any moment again when once more, her gaze focused on him.

"Let's sit down", the redhead now stated, "and talk about this. Alright?"

"Alright", Barry mumbled, making his way away from the door and to his desk with small, timid steps, his eyes never leaving the demon; trembling visibly, he sat down, Willow and her girlfriend doing the same a moment later, after the taller woman had found an empty glass she could use as an ashtray, disgruntled smoking her cigarette in silence while Willow started to talk, Barry's eyes growing bigger with every word she was saying.

* * *

><p>"I swear I had no idea about all of this", he reassured the witch the moment she had stopped talking; wisely, she hadn't told him everything, but just enough to get an answer from him and judge his reaction, well aware of the fact that next to her, Pat was watching the student intently as well, something he had noticed as well, showing through the way he was shifting on his seat every now and then and tried hard not to look at her.<p>

"I just wanted to be nice and give her a gift she'll like", he added, once more shifting on his seat, forcing himself to keep his gaze focused on Willow, "honestly, I swear! Why would I want to poison her? I like her, I think she's cute…"

"Where did you get those earrings?" Pat wanted to know in reply, sounding a bit friendlier now, but still he looked fearful when his gaze moved to her and he shrugged, sounding meek when he answered her question. "Um… Well… I know you won't believe me now, but… I'm not really sure…"

"You're not sure?" the taller woman echoed, to his relief and surprise not sounding angry; hoping that it would stay that way, he nodded, clearing his throat before he spoke on, hoping that he'd be able to find the right words. "Well, you know, Willow told me about the party and so, I thought I should get Buffy a present, to make a good impression and everything, you know? So, I started pondering what I should get her, but I couldn't come up with anything…"

He fell silent, trying to sort his thoughts and buying himself some time by taking a sip of the by now lukewarm coke on his desk; then, he went on, his gaze now focused on his feet.

"So, I just went into town one day", he went on, "and entered that shop at random… And when I came back out, I had the earrings and I was sure that's the perfect present, but I have no idea anymore where that shop was…"

"Do you remember anything about the shopkeeper?" Willow asked, to his obvious relief not questioning his story, "was it a guy? Middle-aged, brown hair?"

"I don't think so", Barry gave back, after thinking about this for a while, "it's all a bit fuzzy, that's why I said I'm not sure, but… I'm pretty sure it wasn't a guy. I think it was a woman."

"And you really don't remember where that shop was?" Pat asked the next question, making the young man gulp before he shook his head.

"On Mainstreet, I think", he then mumbled, "but I'm really not sure, it's all a bit fuzzy…" For a moment, Willow looked like she wanted to ask another question; then, she noticed the glance her girlfriend was throwing her and changed her mind, smiling at Barry instead while she got up from her chair.

"Thank you", she kindly smiled, "you helped us a lot. No hard feelings?"

"Um, no, of course not", Barry hurried to reassure her, not able to hide his relief when Pat got up as well; he made himself smile at the couple, holding his breath until they were out the door and letting it out the moment it had fallen close behind them, wiping his brow as he couldn't help it, but just had to ask himself how close to being beaten up by this strange woman he just had been.

* * *

><p>"You know something, right?" Willow asked her girlfriend as soon as they had left Stevenson Hall together, "that look on your face is the one you only get when you just remembered or realized something important. What is it?"<p>

"I'm not sure yet", Pat gave back, to the witch's obvious dismay, "I need to go to our place first and check something there… But I believe you now, it wasn't Barry."

"Poor guy", the redhead giggled, "he looked as if he's about to pee himself, especially when you glared at him with your Glowing Gaze of Rage."

"Well I thought he did it", Pat defended herself, "it's just good you stopped me in time or I would have beaten him up."

"I know", Willow winked, "but I'm glad you didn't, he wouldn't have said a word afterwards."

"Yeah, because he would have been unconscious", the demon smirked, then grew serious again, sounding worried when she spoke on. "If what I have in mind is correct though, this might be harder than we think right now."

"Let's get moving then", Willow gave back, deciding not to think about this dreadful possibility yet, "and go to our place, so you can get what you need from there."

Nodding, Pat grasped her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, making her smile slightly; they shared a brief, innocent kiss, then moved on, soon leaving the campus and making their way to their apartment.


	11. Chapter 11

Once they had arrived there, Pat immediately hurried into the living room, not even bothering to take off her shoes; for once, Willow didn't reprimand her for this, but just followed her, watching how the taller woman removed one of the cardboard boxes from the high bookshelf and placing it on the ground before she started going through the stacks of notebooks the box was containing.

"What's this?" Willow wanted to know, crouching down next to her; those boxes had been there when she had moved in with her girlfriend, but she never had asked about them before, most of the time not even noticing them, thanks to their high position on the shelf.

"Stuff from my past", Pat gave back, opening one of the notebooks and flipping through it before discarding it by placing it next to the box, "notes I kept on my… colleagues while I was still working, you know? Just in case one of them ever would turn against me."

"Oh", the redhead replied, a bit uncomfortable – even though she had come to terms with her girlfriend's past by now, she still didn't like it to be reminded of it.

"Makes sense", the witch added, "can I help?"

"If you can read my messy handwriting", Pat said, having the grace to sound a bit shameful while she held the notebook she had picked up a minute ago out to Willow; curious, she accepted it and looked at it, frowning a moment later, shaking her head before she looked at her girlfriend again. "You call this messy handwriting? It's worse than a doctor's!"

"I know", Pat ruefully admitted, "but, in my defence, I often wrote those entries while on planes and trains and stuff."

"Why didn't you use a computer?" Willow demanded to know, raising an eyebrow at her girlfriend when she let out a snort in reply.

"Sweetie", she then stated, "remember how old I am, no computers when I started working. And by the time they were affordable for everyone, I got so used to my notebooks, so…"

"If I could read this scrawls and swirls you call handwriting, I'd type them up on my laptop for you", Willow smirked, "but I can't, sorry."

With those words, she handed the notebook back to her girlfriend, giggling when she received another rueful look in reply before the demon focused on the books again, quickly leaving through them; despite her eagerness to get done quickly, it took her almost half an hour until she found the correct book, the way her face lit up when she looked at it making this clear to Willow before she even had said a word.

"There it is", she still stated, quickly reading through the page on which she had found the desired information, then moved on to the next one. "Just as I remembered", she muttered to herself, finally snapping the notebook shut and looking up at her girlfriend.

"There actually is an assassin who works that way", she let Willow know, not bothering to hand the book to her since she wouldn't be able to read it anyway, "poisoning jewellery, usually earrings or rings for the biggest skin contact possible… There's just one little detail that is bothering me."

"Which is?" Willow wanted to know, frowning at the taller woman's response.

"Well, when I took those notes on her, she always succeeded. That was fifty years ago, FYI, but I doubt she'd mess something up now, if it really is her – she'd be much more experienced by now, after all", the demon explained, Willow having to admit that this was making sense, but not liking the thought that Buffy was merely still alive because of some twisted reason this assassin might have for it.

"How can we find out if it was her?" she wanted to know, pushing her dismay about that information aside for now, her face falling when her girlfriend shrugged in reply.

"No idea", she then sighed out, "I don't even remember what she looked like, and unfortunately, the description I wrote down of her in here doesn't help much, either."

"You didn't happen to note down which poison she prefers, right?" Willow asked after a moment, her face lighting up when in response, Pat gave her a smug grin, sounding just as smug as she was looking when she replied. "Actually, I was smart for once and did. Which is good. The bad thing is that there are three kinds she prefers, but we should be able to figure out which one she used on Buffy."

"Giles might be able to help with that", the redhead gave back, coming to her feet again a moment later.

"And so, this is where we'll go", she added, making Pat nod; the demon still took the time to tug the notebook into the pocket of her jacket, then left the apartment again with her girlfriend, the couple hurrying on to Giles' home a few minutes later.

* * *

><p>Once they had arrived at the Watcher's home, Willow quickly explained what they had learned at the campus, with help from Barry, and what Pat had found in her notebook; to her relief, Giles was positive that he'd be able to determine which of the three favoured poisons had been used, with a little blood he'd have to take from the Slayer and the help of Willow and her magic, his voice serious when he spoke on after giving those good news. "You should keep in mind though that, if she hasn't been using any of the three poisons you wrote down back then, Pat, it might be much harder to find out which one it is."<p>

"I don't think she changed her preferences since then", the demon shrugged in reply, "she's always used one or another of that lovely little trio. At least she did during the time I knew her, which admittedly wasn't long."

"No details please", Giles muttered, scribbling the names of the poisons Pat had given him on a piece of paper, then getting up and moving to his working desk, opening one of the drawers and rummaging through it, a frown on his face when he finally stopped.

"I don't have anything suitable for taking blood from Buffy", he let the couple know, not really surprising them – it actually would have been quite freaky if he'd had the things needed to do that at home.

"We can get that stuff from a hospital", Pat shrugged, raising an eyebrow at the disbelieving look Giles was giving her in reply.

"What?" she then went on, clearly eager to defend herself, "it's true. You just need to find the right nurse, one who wants to earn a bit of pocket money, and you can get all you need. Did that myself a few times when I needed certain drugs."

"Hopefully not for yourself", Willow muttered, a bit satisfied when the demon immediately shook her head, even though she knew what that denial meant, namely that the drugs had been needed either for demon pals or for someone she'd been sent to kill.

"You do that, then, since you seem experienced with it", Giles instructed the black haired woman, distracting Willow from her musings about her girlfriend's past, "and take the things to Buffy's house once you got them. Just try to stay away from… the wrong kind of nurse, I guess, or you might end up in trouble."

"I know what I'm doing", Pat gave back, sounding a tiny bit insulted, "no worries. I'll meet you at the Summers house then?"

"Yes", the Watcher immediately agreed, making her smile, even though said smile faded again moments later when Willow checked her watch and let out a small sigh, giving the taller woman a rueful look before she replied. "Not me, I'm afraid, I have to get back to campus… class, keeping up appearances, you know?"

"Yeah, sure", Pat gave back, "just… be careful, okay? If she's still around, she's dangerous to all of us, not just to Buffy. If you notice anything just a tiny bit out of the ordinary, you leave right away and come home, okay?"

"Okay", the witch agreed, touched by her girlfriend's obvious concern; she smiled up at her, then took the time to steal a quick kiss before she said goodbye to Giles and left, returning to campus while Pat made her way to the hospital to get everything they'd need for collecting some of Buffy's blood.

* * *

><p>Even though she had hurried, Willow barely made it back to the campus in time for her psychology class; she entered the room where it would be held a mere minute before the professor did the same, making the witch grateful that she'd already taken her seat when Professor Rowe entered, since the blonde woman had made it quite clear by now what she thought of people who were late or arrived in the nick of time.<p>

Giving her best to keep herself from panting, since she had ran the distance from the campus gate to the lecture room, Willow hurriedly got the psychology textbook from her bag and put it on the table in front of her, finding a pen a moment later; if the professor had noticed that she only had put her utensils on the table right now, she made no comment, looking at no one in particular as she told the class to open their books on the chapter they had been going through during the last lecture.

As always, she barely gave them enough time to do so, and started talking almost immediately; by now, most of the students had gotten used to the speed with which Rowe held her lectures, but still they all felt drained when the class was over, their hands nearly cramping up from scribbling their notes down so fast. Glad that this had been the only class of her day, Willow quickly packed up her things, eager to get back to Buffy's house and see if any progress had been made there; before she could leave the lecture hall though, the professor spoke up, her words forcing the redhead to hold back a dismayed sigh. "Miss Rosenberg? Do you have a minute?"

"Sure", she made herself say, not wanting to tick the professor off; some of the students who knew her a bit better threw her curious looks, none of them making a comment though, and a short time later, they all were gone, leaving Willow and the professor behind.

"I just wanted to ask how Miss Summers is doing", the professor now stated, giving the witch a curious look, "it'd be a pity if she missed too many classes…"

"She'll get better soon, I hope", Willow gave back, not wanting to tell the professor too much about Buffy's peculiar state, "thank you for asking, I'll tell her you inquired about her health."

"Please do", the blonde woman smiled, "and also, please thank her for rescuing me from the man with the deformed face at the cemetery, a few nights ago."

"I will", Willow gave back, momentarily surprised – neither Buffy nor Pat had mentioned this to her, even though she at least would have expected her girlfriend to tell her about something like this.

"Well, I was glad that she was there", Rowe now let her know, distracting her from her thoughts, "even though I couldn't help but wonder what she was doing at the cemetery at such a time. There was another woman with her, too…"

"That was my girlfriend", Willow gave back, her mind racing as she tried to figure out how to answer the question the professor had worked into her words, "and don't ask me why, but Buffy likes… to study at the cemetery, it's always been that way, my girlfriend's just coming along in case something happens, she knows martial arts…"

Noticing that she was dangerously close to going into babble mode, the redhead forced herself to shut up, not wanting to give away any more than what she already had said; to her relief, the professor seemed to buy that explanation, merely sounding a bit concerned, but not disbelieving when she replied. "Well, to each their own I guess, but she really should be careful. Tell her that from me, too, will you?"

"Of course", Willow reassured her, wondering if that had been all; when Rowe just smiled at her, then started packing up her own things, she figured that the talk was over, still taking the time to wish the professor a nice day before she hurried off, making her way back to the Summers house as fast as possible.


	12. Chapter 12

When she arrived at the house, she immediately knew that her girlfriend was already there, an information she got from the fact that her jacket hung on one of the hooks next to the door and her boots stood in the hallway; curious if she'd been able to get everything, the redhead made her way upstairs, smiling when she found Pat and Giles in Buffy's bedroom there, the Watcher busy with taking some blood from the still unconscious Slayer while the demon was watching, an unreadable expression on her face.

Upon hearing the witch enter, the black haired woman turned to look at her, smiling slightly; returning the smile, Willow moved over to her, her smile widening a bit when the taller woman put one arm around her shoulders.

"So you found the right nurse", she mumbled in a low voice, not wanting to disturb Giles, the Brit appearing deeply concentrated as he watched the blood drip into the plastic test tube which was connected to the needle in the Slayer's arm via a thin, transparent hose.

"Thankfully, I did, and quite quickly, too", the demon now let her know, keeping her voice down as well, "now let's just hope that the blood we're getting from her will help us to find out about the poison, or we'll have to take her to the hospital."

With a grimace, Willow nodded her agreement; she knew just as well as her girlfriend that the hospital probably wouldn't have much luck with determining the poison, not if it had been used by an assassin who was an expert when it came to killing that way, but at least, the hospital staff would be able to keep Buffy from starving or dehydrating., something they couldn't do here.

"I'll go look up a spell for that", she thus let the taller woman know, not surprised when Pat asked if she could come along – there wasn't much she could do here anyway, and watching her girlfriend go through her magic books was still more fun than watching how Giles took blood from Buffy.

"Sure", the witch smiled in response, making Pat smile as well; together, they left the room, the Watcher not even noticing their departure, and made their way downstairs and into the living room, where they found Dawn on the couch, her face so pale that it startled both Willow and Pat.

"What is it?" the witch was the first one to speak up, "did something happen, Dawnie?"

"Is he done?" Dawn wanted to know in reply, looking up at the redhead, her voice trembling just enough to let her notice; she shook her head, then moved to sit next to her while Pat went to get her books from the bag she'd brought from their apartment.

"He's almost done though", the redhead reassured Dawn, putting a comforting hand on her arm, "and then, I'll use the blood and some magic to find out which poison has been used on Buffy."

"I know", Dawn mumbled, "Giles explained it to me, but… it still freaked me out to see him take her blood, and, she's still like that, in such a bad shape…"

"She'll be fine", Pat was the one to answer this time, putting the books down on the table in front of her girlfriend as if to underline her words; nodding her agreement, Willow gave the teenager another calming smile, then picked up one of the books and started leafing through it, quickly finding the page she'd been looking for.

"Alright", she mumbled after going through the spell once, "I'll need some of the dried grass you hopefully brought along, and something to burn it in."

"Yup, I did", Pat confirmed, to her great relief; while the demon went to get the grass, Dawn jumped up and hurried into the kitchen to find a bowl suitable for burning the stuff, coming back a short time later with one looking quite peculiar, the thickness and regularity of the clay it had been made of differing visibly in various spots.

"I made that one in art class", she explained, a bit embarrassed, at the amused look on the demon's face; clearing her throat, the teenager put the bowl down in front of Willow, smiling again though when the witch reassured her that it would work just fine, no matter how irregular it looked.

"Once Giles comes down with the blood", she then started explaining while crumbling some of the grass into the bowl, "I'll add it to the grass and then I'll need to burn it. Sweetie…?"

In response, Pat just nodded, sitting down next to her and, after a moment, removing anything inflammable from the immediate vicinity of the bowl, not wanting to end up setting some other book or some of her girlfriend's notes on fire – she was quite good with flicking fireballs where she wanted them to go, but that didn't mean that she never messed it up.

"Once I burned it", Willow went on with explaining the procedure as soon as everything which might catch fire had been removed, "I'll say the spell, please don't talk while I'm doing that or it'll be messed up. I'll have to hold the bowl while I do so, and after I got done with the spell, I should know which poison was used."

"Um, question", Pat raised her hand, making the witch look at her, "hold the bowl? You do know that it will heat up after the stuff in it burned, right? Won't you get burns?"

"…probably", Willow admitted after a moment, the frown which appeared on her girlfriend's face in response making it clear that she didn't like that at all, prompting her to quickly defend the necessity of the spell, "but it'll be worth it, once we know which poison it is, we can get the antidote and then, Buffy will be fine!"

In response, Pat just let out a few low grumbles, didn't protest any more though; Willow gave her a calming smile, then Giles finally came downstairs with the small vial of blood, holding it up with a questioning look and making her nod after a moment she had taken to make sure that it was enough. With his hand trembling slightly, the Watcher handed the tube to the witch; she smiled at him as well, then took in a deep breath before she poured the blood on the grass, her heart beating up to her throat as she realized that within minutes, they'd know which poison was responsible for the state of her best friend.

* * *

><p>Even though she wasn't all too happy about the fact that Willow had to burn herself so the spell would work, Pat provided the fire her loved one needed, throwing a tiny fireball into the bowl the moment Willow looked at her with a casual gesture of her fingers; moments later, she nearly jumped back as a surprisingly loud crack came from the bowl, making her wonder for a second if it had been broken and forcing her to bite down on her tongue to keep the curse that wanted to escape her inside, remembering what Willow had said about the silence she'd need during the spell.<p>

It didn't take long until she had to repeat that unpleasant gesture, since the redhead had picked up the bowl and was mumbling the spell; unexpectedly thick smoke was billowing from it, and Pat could feel the heat of the clay where she sat, frowning again when she asked herself how hot the bowl had to be by now and how bad those burns might turn out to be in the end. Fighting down the urge to grab the bowl from her girlfriend, the demon watched how Willow continued the chant, sounding a bit strained now; her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and small beads of sweat were forming on her forehead, soon rolling down her cheeks, the demon fidgeting on her seat as she struggled to keep quiet, wondering how many more words her girlfriend would have to say to finish the spell.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to her, Willow pressed out the last few words, her eyes flying open after the last word had been said; the bowl fell out of her hands, the pain forgotten for a few moments as the knowledge all at once was simply _there_, making it clear to her that the spell had worked just as it had been supposed to. With a heavy breath, she forced herself to calm down, her heart still hammering in her chest though; now that the euphoria of the working magic was dying down, she could feel the pain again, a small groan escaping her as she squeezed her eyes shut and fought down the urge to clench her fists, knowing that would only make it worse.

"Dawn", she heard Pat speak up next to her, "go into the bathroom and check if you have some burn ointment, will you?"

"Sure", the teenager gave back, sounding a bit shaken up; moments later, the witch heard how her footsteps moved away from the couch and to the bathroom, then Pat carefully put an arm around her, distracting her from listening to Dawn and making her open her eyes again.

"Please tell me that it worked", the demon muttered, her gaze moving from her face to her burned palms and then back to her face again, a small smile curling her lips when the witch nodded weakly, smiling as well when the taller woman leaned closer to her and kissed the top of her head, her voice low when she spoke up again. "Good then, or I would have gotten really mad. You wanna do that spell to borrow my healing?"

"Not now", Willow mumbled, "later… That spell was kinda tiring, but I know now. I know what she used…"

"What was it?" Giles wanted to know, reminding both the witch and the demon of his presence; Pat gave him a strict look, but before she could scold him for not even giving Willow a little time to regain some strength, the redhead already answered him, slight pride in her voice. "A mixture of larkspur and barbiturate… She also used some magic to enhance the effect and make it kick in faster… Sweetie, please tell me that larkspur is one of the three poisons she likes to use."

In response, Pat got up and moved to her jacket, getting the notebook from the inner pocket and flipping through it, nodding half a minute later and making Willow smile again; clearly glad about the spell's outcome, Giles smiled as well, even though his smile faded when Dawn came back with the burn ointment.

"I hope this spell won't be necessary again anytime soon", he then stated, looking at the palms of the witch where by now, the skin was blistering and brightly red, "and that you'll feel strong enough for that borrowing spell soon."

"Me too", Pat grumbled, taking the ointment from Dawn when the younger girl held it out to her, giving Willow an apologetic look and warning her that this would hurt for a few moments before she started to apply it, the witch gritting her teeth moments later, hoping that the cooling and numbing effect that ointment was supposed to help would kick in quickly.

"How come you know how long burn ointment takes to take effect?" Dawn wanted to know, looking at the demon curiously, "it's not like you can actually burn yourself, right?"

"Right", Pat agreed, "but that doesn't mean I've never been around people who were burned, and not by me, if I might add."

"Well, if you'd have burned them, you surely wouldn't have given them ointment afterwards", Giles pointed out, making the demon nod; focusing fully on her girlfriend again, she finished applying the ointment, the redhead letting out a small, but content sigh when she felt it take effect at last.

"So", the Watcher now spoke up again, gaining the attention of the couple and of Dawn once more, "now that we know which poison it is, we have to find the antidote. You don't happen to know anything about that, Pat?"

"I'm afraid it won't be that easy", Willow spoke up before the demon could do so, "since the assassin used magic to enhance the effects, a normal antidote most likely won't help."

"So what can we do?" the demon demanded to know, sounding a bit worried, "please don't tell me you ended up burning your hands for nothing?"

"No, I didn't", Willow reassured her, "it just means that, well, we'll have to find her and find out which spell exactly she used so I can do a counterspell and the antidote will work… I wish my spell would have made that clear, but unfortunately, it didn't."

"Well, finding her might be difficult", Giles sighed, taking off his glasses and starting to clean them, "who knows if she's still in Sunnydale? She might have fled town after making sure that the poisoned earrings reached Buffy."

"Nope, she didn't", Pat gave back, "as I've told you, I know her, and I know she doesn't leave until she's sure that she completed her assignment… and got some kind of proof."

"Oh", the Watcher gave back, not all too intelligent; for a few moments, silence filled the room, then Dawn cleared her throat and made them all look at her.

"Um", she started, fidgeting on her seat, clearly uncomfortable, "what kind of proof are we talking about, Pat…?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask that", the demon sighed, "but… well… body parts. You know, ears, fingers…"

"I think I have an idea then", the teenager mumbled, blushing when the others all raised their eyebrows in perfect unison, clearing her throat once more before she started to explain, her embarrassment vanishing when the sceptic expressions of the others slowly vanished and she could see agreement in their eyes, knowing that the plan she'd come up with would be put into action before she even finished explaining.


	13. Chapter 13

It was up to Pat to set the plan into motion when she went out for patrol in the evening of the same day; even though they all knew that it was a highly risky idea Dawn had come up with, they also were well aware of the fact that, without a clue about how the assassin might look and where she was hiding, it was impossible to lure her to the Summers house any other way, and thus were more than willing to take that risk.

At first, Willow had tried to convince Pat of taking her along on patrol, but the demon had kept refusing, even when the redhead had put on her famous "resolve face", finally making it clear to her that, if their plan was supposed to work, she'd have to take quite a few hits, and she didn't want to risk the same happening to Willow – especially not after they had performed the spell which borrowed her healing to her girlfriend and thus made her unable to heal herself or others for the next few hours.

This didn't make letting her go alone exactly easier for Willow, but finally, she gave in, telling the taller woman to be careful before she kissed her tenderly, then watched her leave with a heavy heart; she remained in the doorway until the demon was out of sight, then closed the door, sighing to herself while she made her way back into the living room.

"She'll be okay", Dawn's voice distracted her from her musings, making her look up and at the teenager, "you heard what she said, right? She'll just let them roughen her up a bit…"

"That's the plan", Willow had to admit, "but you know how she is. Kinda reckless."

"She'll be fine", the teenager repeated in reply, "now come and sit with me and let's watch some TV or something, so you won't think about her all the time and be worried."

"I won't be able to help that", the redhead gave back, smiling weakly, but nonetheless making her way to the couch and sitting down next to Dawn, holding back the urge to point out that no matter what they'd watch, she would be thinking about her girlfriend anyway.

While Dawn switched on the TV and started zapping through the channels, looking for something which would interest both her and Willow, Giles came downstairs and joined them as well, shaking his head at the questioning look the witch was giving him.

"Still no change", he then verbalized that gesture, "and by now, I'm doubting that the assassin who's responsible for this really will fall for this little scheme."

"Well, what else can we do?" Willow wanted to know in reply, a bit annoyed – after all, he had been fine with the plan when they had come up with it.

"There's no other way to find her", she went on when the Watcher didn't reply immediately, "you know as well as I do that the locator spell won't do any good if we don't have the slightest clue where she is, and that plan is better than doing nothing."

"I know", Giles sighed out, giving her an apologetic look, "but, well, I was thinking about it while I checked on Buffy, and it'd be quite… silly of that assassin to believe the little tale you came up with."

"We'll see if she'll believe it", Willow muttered, now seriously annoyed, "so, for now, let's just wait for Pat to come back and see how it went."

In response, the Brit just nodded, to her great relief not trying to come up with any other arguments; he stood there for a moment longer, then moved to the comfortable armchair next to the couch and sat down there, forcing himself to focus on the TV, both Willow and he unable to keep their eyes of their wristwatches though as they waited for the demon to return and tell them how patrol had been.

* * *

><p>To the dismay the trio, it took almost three hours until the front door finally opened and Pat came back to the house; the moment she entered, Willow gasped and jumped up from her seat, rushing to the demon's side while Giles and Dawn just remained where they were and simply stared, a bit relieved though when the demon gave them a weak smile and a thumbs-up.<p>

"Look at you!" Willow cried out, clearly not as calmed down by the smile and the gesture as Dawn and Giles, "you said you'd just let them roughen you up a bit!"

"That's just what I let them do", the taller woman defended herself, now looking down on her girlfriend, "it looks worse than it is because I had no chance to wash so far."

"I hope you didn't let too many people see you like that", Giles gave back quite dryly, earning an angry glare from Willow and a shrug from Pat; then, the witch focused on her girlfriend again, her heart cramping up once more at the sight of her bloodied nose and her bust lips, making it quite clear that she had taken at least one punch to the face.

"Are you sure you're not badly hurt?" she demanded to know, sounding a bit calmer now, her concern decreasing even further at the black haired woman's reply. "I walked back here, that wouldn't have been possible if I'd be badly hurt. Now just let me go and clean up…"

Nodding her agreement, Willow held back the urge to kiss her, figuring that it wouldn't be pleasant for her with a split lip; thus, she just touched her hand briefly instead, giving her a small smile and making her smile back before she let her go, watching how she vanished into the bathroom.

It didn't take long until she came back out, now looking much less gruesome; her nose still was swollen, just like her lip, but all the blood was gone, convincing Willow that it really had looked worse than it actually was, to her great relief.

"Did it work?" Giles now wanted to know, figuring that it was safe to ask since the witch looked much calmer; to his dismay, the demon shrugged, then moved to sit on the couch, Dawn immediately making room for Willow, knowing that the witch would want to sit next to her loved one, something the redhead did a moment later.

"How am I supposed to know?" Pat asked the Watcher once she had made herself comfortable, "I dropped a few lines about Buffy's tragic demise, as we agreed I would, and I let one of them escape so he can tell his buddies. Let's hope he'll have any."

"And even if he didn't, there probably were other vampires around who heard you", Willow pointed out, "so, I assume the word is spreading right now…"

"I hope so", Pat sighed out, "or I let that idiotic vampire punch me in the face for nothing."

"You can demon out and heal that soon, right?" Willow demanded to know, now sounding concerned again, not liking the thought of her girlfriend having to deal with that pain longer than necessary, feeling relieved once more when the demon gave her a smile and nodded.

"Another hour or two, then it should work again", she then reassured the redhead, "and I'm glad about it, I forgot how much a broken nose actually hurts."

"Broken!" Willow echoed, her eyes going wide again, "you didn't mention that before!"

"I thought you figured it out on your own", Pat defended herself, "you are quite smart after all, and after I mentioned that I took a punch full in the face…"

"You've done so a few times since I got to know you, but your nose didn't get broken every time", the witch pointed out, making her girlfriend grin sheepishly since she had to admit that Willow had a point; the redhead gave her another strict look, then clearly shrugged it off since she smiled at the taller woman and reached over to pat her upper leg, making her smile as well.

"Let's hope this woman doesn't come here before you managed to heal", Giles now commented, gaining the attention of both of them, "or fighting her might be harder than it should be."

"Aw come on", Pat protested at once, making Willow giggle since she already had known that this reaction would come, "as if that silly broken nose could keep me from fighting properly. You should know me better than that by now… G-Man."

At hearing this unwelcome nickname, Giles just winced, throwing Willow an irritated look when she giggled again; mumbling to himself about Xander and his silly habit to give people silly nicknames, the Watcher got up from his seat and vanished into the kitchen while the others made themselves comfortable in the living room, knowing that for now, all they could do was wait and see if their plan had worked out.

* * *

><p>Several hours later, Willow awoke with a start, groaning when she noticed at once how much her neck hurt; even though she knew by now that falling asleep while sitting on the couch wasn't a good idea, she clearly had done it again, along with her girlfriend, the demon slumbering soundly despite the fact that the way her head was resting on her shoulder looked quite uncomfortable, as well.<p>

Briefly, the witch wondered why she had woken up, then decided it probably had been the pain in her neck; carefully, so she wouldn't wake her girlfriend, she got up from the couch, momentarily frowning when she noticed that Dawn was gone and making a mental note to scold her about not waking them up before she'd gone to bed, then moved into the kitchen, yawning to herself while she opened the fridge there and grabbed the large bottle of mineral water, another yawn escaping her while she unscrewed the lid.

For a moment, she wondered if she should get a glass, then decided against it, quickly looking into the direction of the living room to make sure her girlfriend was still asleep – after all, she always scolded her when she drank right from the bottle instead of using a glass, and it'd be quite embarrassing if she'd be caught doing the same thing. After another look at the doorway leading into the living room, Willow finally gripped the bottleneck and brought the bottle up to her mouth; she had barely taken the first sip when the window shattered, followed by the bottle doing the same a second later, causing her to let out a shriek as she automatically jumped back, the water still soaking her pants, her eyes going wide when she saw the arrow which had gone through the window and the bottle and had ended up stuck in one of the chairs at the kitchen table, quivering slightly.

The sound of hurried footsteps tore her out of her shocked trance; still feeling numb, she turned to the doorway, not surprised to see her girlfriend come rushing into the kitchen, worry all over her face.

"What happened?" she demanded to know, sounding just as concerned as she was looking, "I heard this big crash, are you—"

She saw the arrow and fell silent, her good eye narrowing; then, Willow spoke up, her voice trembling slightly as the shock started to fade and she began to realize how close she had been to getting hit by that arrow. "I just wanted to drink some water, and suddenly that arrow came flying, smashed the window and then the bottle…"

She gestured at the mess on the ground, the glinting shards glass lying in a rather large puddle of water; she had wanted to say more, but all at once, the shock was gone and the reaction to what just had happened set in, her knees giving in beneath her as the realization of how close to being killed she just had been set in. She just had a second to wonder if she'd cut herself when she'd fall into the mess of glass shards and water, then she went down; the blink of an eye later, Pat caught her with surprising speed, keeping her from hitting the ground and injuring herself, now looking heavily worried again, her good eye darting back and forth as she tried to figure out if she'd been hurt.

"I'm fine", Willow finally managed to croak out, closing her eyes when the world started to spin around her; she felt how the taller woman hoisted her up, then she was lowered into one of the chairs, finally daring to open her eyes again a few seconds later.

"Are you sure?" Pat asked her, keeping one hand on her shoulder in case she'd feel faint again; smiling weakly, she nodded, then asked the demon if she could get her a glass of water, giving a more detailed answer to the black haired woman's question while that wish was fulfilled. "It didn't hit my, luckily… I just felt a bit faint."

"And you didn't cut yourself, either?" the demon demanded to know, putting the glass of water down in front of her; Willow took the time to down half of it with one big gulp, then shook her head, letting out a heavy breath afterwards. "No, thankfully. Do you think that was supposed to hit me?"

"I doubt it", Pat mumbled, now looking at the arrow again, studying the black wood and the white feathers which had been glued to the end of the shaft, "those are hers, she uses them to deliver messages when she wants to add some drama."

"Really?" Willow gave back, her surprise about this pushing aside every other feeling; without thinking about it much, she reached out to grasp the arrow, only to have Pat stop her by grabbing her hand, sounding alarmed when she spoke up. "Don't touch it! Who knows what she put on it."

She gave the redhead another worried look to make sure she wouldn't faint again, then moved to the cupboard beneath the sink and opened it, grabbing a pair of rubber gloves; quickly, she put them on, then moved to pull the arrow out of the chair, something which cost her some strength, the muscles of her forearm bulging visibly, but finally, the arrow came free.

"Where's the message?" Willow wanted to know, eying the arrow curiously; in response, the demon fumbled with it for a few moments, then finally started to unroll a strip of paper which had been wrapped tightly around the wooden shaft, the witch raising an eyebrow at the sight. "She's using black paper? Gothic much?"

"Probably so it won't ruin the visual of the black wood, white feathers thing", Pat muttered, holding the strip of paper up and squinting at it, Willow leaning closer to her so she could read the message as well, frowning at how tiny the writing was, but able to decipher it anyway.

_You didn't really think I'm that dumb, did you? You want answers, you'll play by _my_ rules. See you at campus tomorrow evening, 8 p.m., in lecture hall 3B. _

"At campus?" Pat frowned, looking at her girlfriend, "why would she want to meet us there?"

"I don't know", Willow gave back, still studying the piece of paper, "but the lecture hall she wants us to go to is the one where our psychology class is held, I don't think this is a coincidence."

"I don't like this one bit", Pat declared, not really surprising the witch, "if we go there, we'll have to play by her rules, and we don't even know those rules."

"Do we have a choice?" the redhead asked as an answer, smiling weakly when her girlfriend made a long face in reply, her voice soft when she spoke on. "No, we don't, and you know it. She knows that Buffy's not dead, obviously, so the plan didn't work. Seems like Giles was right…"

"Too bad", Pat sighed out, "and yeah, I know that we don't have much of a choice, but I still don't like it."

"We should talk about it with the others tomorrow", Willow suggested as an answer, her tiredness kicking in again now that the shock had faded away. "For now, we should just get some rest…"

"Yeah", the demon agreed after a moment, "we can clean that mess tomorrow, it's bad enough that we still have to prepare the couch."

"Indeed", the redhead sighed, a yawn escaping her afterwards; smirking at how cute this looked, Pat took a tender hold of her girlfriend's arm when she got up from her seat, just in case she'd feel faint once more; together, they made their way into the living room where they got the couch ready, then laid down to sleep, both of them soon drifting off into slumber.


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: I hope you all had a happy Easter! :) I surely did, I received a ton of chocolate from my dear parents and grandma. There go my plans to lose some weight :D Not all too much happening in this update, but I promise the next will have more action ;) Enjoy!

* * *

><p>In the next morning, Pat cleaned the mess they had left behind the previous night while Willow prepared breakfast, then went to wake up Dawn; as soon as the teenager had joined them, she explained what had happened the night before, the brunette agreeing that they should call the others and let them know about it as well, suggesting a meeting afterwards so they could try to come up with a plan that wouldn't put them in too much danger when they'd go to face the assassin.<p>

"Yup, makes sense", Pat agreed, making Dawn smile proudly, her smile fading again though when the demon spoke on. "I just wish I'd remember more about that woman, that would help, too, but it's been way too long."

"Did you know her well?" Dawn wanted to know, missing the grateful look Willow gave her – she had been wondering about that as well, but hadn't found a good way to ask yet without sounding too curious or maybe even jealous.

"No, not really", the taller woman now shrugged, "back then, I was part of, well, I guess you could call it a gang, not for long, it just wasn't the right thing for me, and she was there, as well. We did a job once together, it worked fine, and shortly afterwards, I left."

Momentarily, Willow was relieved that there hadn't been more between her girlfriend and that other assassin; she knew that she was the first woman the demon had a real relationship with, but that didn't mean that there hadn't been a few women Pat had shared her bed with.

"It's a pity", the black haired woman now sighed out, "but at least I had a few notes on her."

"Made it easier to figure it out", Willow reassured her, then moved to the phone to call Giles, Xander and Anya; just like Dawn had suggested, she asked them to come to Buffy's house so they could come up with something, all of them immediately agreeing and promising that they'd be there as fast as possible, Xander even adding that he'd bring donuts, claiming that they would need the sugar.

"They'll all be here soon", the redhead let Pat and Dawn know as soon as she had made the last call, "and Xander will bring donuts."

"Oh, awesome", the two gave back in perfect unison, making the witch giggle; she shook her head at them, then sat down next to her girlfriend and refilled her coffee cup, making the demon shudder with the fact that she added no sugar.

"I hope we'll come up with something", Dawn spoke up before Pat could comment on her girlfriend's coffee drinking habits, "I don't like the thought of just walking in there and presenting ourselves to her like that."

"Well, you won't be presenting anything to anyone", Pat let her know, giving her a strict look, "because you won't come along."

"What?" Dawn immediately protested, not really surprising the witch or the demon, "why not? I know how to fight! You know that, too, you helped Buffy to teach me!"

"I'm well aware of that", Pat gave back, Willow just listening with interest, "and you are quite good when it comes to fighting vampires, but I won't let you go up against an assassin who's twice my age and has much, much more fighting experience than you."

"She's twice your age?" Dawn echoed, stunned, momentarily forgetting about the discussion, her eyes doubling in size when the demon nodded.

"Give or take a few years", she then added, "and as far as I remember, she was very good when it came to hand-to-hand combat. It'll be hard enough to kick her ass without Buffy, but I guess it can be done, if my sweet girlfriend here helps with a bit of magic, but it won't work out if I have to worry about her killing you while I fight her."

"But why can't I come along anyway?" Dawn whined, throwing her a pleading look, "I promise I won't try to fight! Come on, Xander and Anya will probably come along too, right, and they won't fight, either!"

"They might be helpful with crossbows", Pat pointed out as an answer, making the teenager snort as she realized that apparently, she had an answer for every argument she might come up with, "are you any good with those?"

"Buffy showed me how to use them, but I didn't get much practice", the brunette had to admit, sighing afterwards, regretting that she hadn't taken the time to practice her crossbow shooting; realizing that she was on the losing side of that discussion, she picked up her fork and started playing with it, pouting, the expression vanishing though when Willow spoke up. "Plus, someone should stay here and keep an eye on Buffy, just in case."

"Fine, I'll stay", the teenager gave in with another sigh; she rolled her eyes when both Pat and Willow smiled at her in reply, then put her fork down and let the couple know that she'd go check on Buffy, making them both nod, Dawn giving them a small smile before she left for the upstairs bedroom while the couple remained in the kitchen, checking the watch every now and then as they waited for the others to arrive so the planning could start.

* * *

><p>Once Xander, Anya and Giles had arrived and the donuts had been handed out, they all sat down in the living room; Willow gave them a quick overview about what had happened and what they knew about the assassin, then asked for ideas, dismayed when for a while, no one replied.<p>

"Well", Pat finally was the first one to speak up, "as I said, it's a pity that Buffy can't come along to the fight, but if you do some sort of spell, maybe something to slow her down or some binding magic, I should be able to take her down. And once we did that, we just need to make her talk."

"You make that sound awfully easy", Giles reprimanded her, "do you think she'll just give us all the information we'll need once you beat her up?"

"Nope", the demon shrugged, "which is why I said we need to _make_ her talk. Let me rephrase that, remember that truth spell Willow used on me to make sure I wasn't out to kill Buffy anymore?"

"I do now", Giles smiled, then looked at the witch, sounding slightly concerned when he spoke on. "Do you think you can do this?"

"Sure", the redhead gave back at once, "I'll just need to take along the ingredients for the truth spell… I'm thinking about doing the vine spell to keep that assassin in place, would that work?"

With the last words, she looked at her girlfriend, smiling when immediately, the demon nodded; then, she looked at Xander and Anya, gesturing at the chest in which Buffy kept her weapons.

"I'd like to arm you two and Giles with crossbows and bows", she let them know, "just in case. I do not want you to go into hand to hand with her, leave that to me, but just in case she knows some counterspell against the vine thing, it'd be nice to know that there are some arrows with her name on them."

"We can do that", Anya nodded, "I don't wanna get into a fist fight with this woman anyway, she'd probably knock me out with one punch and give me a concussion."

"She can do that?" Willow wanted to know, worried, looking at her girlfriend; in response, Pat smirked, then shrugged, not sounding all too concerned when she replied. "To a human? Probably. To me? I doubt it, you know I have a thicker skull than regular people."

"It's times like those when I miss being a demon", Anya sighed, making them all look at her again, "because if I still were, you could just make a wish of vengeance against her and things would be fine."

"That'd be nice, yup", Pat agreed, "but luckily, you have another demon on the team, one who's eager to kick some ass, and I think we're coming up with the perfect way to let me do just that."

"At least, this plan is more promising than the previous one", Giles was the one who answered that, "and I believe that it will work this time."

"I hope it will", Pat muttered, holding back a snarky remark about how he hadn't exactly been able to come up with a better plan earlier either; instead, she turned to Willow and asked how many entrances there were to the lecture hall where they should meet the assassin.

"Two", the witch gave back after thinking about that for a moment, "the big one, with the double doors, and a smaller one behind the last row, an emergency exit."

"We'll take that one then", the demon decided at once, "I don't wanna barge in through the big double doors, that's probably what she'll expect us to do anyway."

"Also, we can take our positions better if we enter there", Xander pointed out, making the black haired woman nod, a satisfied smirk appearing on her face afterwards.

"I think we got it all worked out", she then stated, glad when the others nodded their agreement, "now, do we have everything we need here?"

"Nope", Willow immediately gave back, "I need some stuff for the truth spell."

"I think Buffy has only two crossbows here", Giles added, "but there's a third one in the training room at the Magic Box."

"How lucky we are", Pat smirked, "two birds with one stone. Off we go then."

With those words, she got up from her seat, prompting the others to do the same, except for Dawn, who claimed she wanted to stay with Buffy, and Anya, who let the others know that she'd keep Dawn company, surprising all of them – normally, she hated it to let Willow get stuff from the shop unsupervised.

"We won't be gone for long", the witch promised Dawn, making her nod and reassure that she'd be fine; if she wasn't all too thrilled by the thought of Anya staying there with her, she didn't let it show, merely nodding when the ex-demon asked her if she wanted to watch TV until the others would be back, making herself comfortable on the couch while the rest left, heading for the Magic Box to get everything they'd need to fight the assassin.


	15. Chapter 15

Just as they had promised, it didn't take them long to collect everything; Willow quickly found the ingredients she needed for the truth spell, giggling when she watched how her girlfriend studied the price tags for the stuff she'd taken, then checked her wallet, both of them knowing that the moment they'd walk through the door of the Summers house, Anya would want to know how much they took and would demand to be paid.

"You got enough, or you wanna stop at an ATM?" she asked, not fully serious; smirking as well, Pat reassured her that she had enough, putting her wallet into the back pocket of her pants again, turning towards the door which led to the training room when Giles and Xander stepped through it, the younger man carrying a crossbow and the Watcher cradling a duffle bag filled with bolts.

"You got everything?" Xander asked Willow, making her nod before she held up the bag with the ingredients, laughing again when the young man pointed out that Anya probably would demand to be paid for that stuff.

"I know", she giggled, "Pat already checked to make sure she's got enough cash…"

"I see you know my girl as well as I do", Xander smirked, then held up the key to the store's front door and made it jingle slightly, asking if they were ready to leave then.

Nodding, Willow tucked the bag with ingredients into her handbag, then made her way to the front door with Pat in tow; Giles stepped outside right behind them, followed by Xander, the demon taking the chance to light up a cigarette while they waited for him to lock up the store.

As soon as the door had been locked, they started their walk back to the Summers house, Xander hiding the crossbow from the eyes of the public by draping his jacket over it, ignoring the fact that this actually made people look at him who might have ignored him otherwise, thanks to the fact that it was not quite warm enough to be walking around without a jacket.

"Am I glad that the shop's not far from the house", he complained after a while, "I feel like I'm walking on some kind of runway."

"That's because you're not wearing your jacket, it's too cold to do that, and the crossbow's peeking out anyway", Pat helpfully informed him in reply, "and why do you bother hiding it? You know how the people here are. I've walked down Main Street carrying a big ass axe one time and no one gave me a second look."

"Yes, because it might be unhealthy to openly stare at a person who carries a big axe and wears an eye patch", Willow pointed out, "they probably thought you're some kind of loony and were afraid you might cut them up with that axe if they'd stare at you too long."

"I should get an eye patch too", Xander pondered before Pat could reply to that argument, "then I could walk around with weapons and no one would dare to stare at me."

"It's not much fun, trust me", Pat muttered in reply, making him blush as he realized that maybe this hadn't been the most tactful thing to say; he mumbled an apology, glad when the demon smiled at him and reassured him that it was okay.

"I hope Anya didn't drive Dawn batty by now", he then stated, making Willow giggle and nod – they all knew that Dawn wasn't all too fond of Anya.

"I don't think so", she then stated, "if they really watched TV, they should be fine, that's a quiet activity, right?"

"Most of the time", Xander sighed, "except for the days when Anya has the need to comment everything which happens on screen. I hope it wasn't one of those days."

"We're about to find out", Pat smirked, as the house appeared in the distance; Xander and she grinned at each other, the sight making Willow smile as well, once more leaving her glad about the fact that her girlfriend and her friends got along so well – when they had started dating and the whole business about her being a demon had been revealed, she hadn't been so sure if it'd work out in the end.

"Who's got the key?" Giles demanded to know once they had reached the house, prompting Willow to snap out of her thoughts and tell him that she had it; she moved past the others and unlocked the door, calling out to Anya and Dawn as she entered, frowning when no answer came. Curious, she moved into the living room, hearing the sound of the TV there; the room was empty though, the witch frowning to herself when she heard Pat call out to her that they weren't in the kitchen, either.

"Anya?" Xander now called out in the hallway, sounding worried; moving back to him, Willow just wanted to tell him that surely, everything was alright when a low thump came from upstairs, the words dying in her throat when her gaze met Pat's and she saw the alarm on her girlfriend's face.

Another thump came, as if to make sure that they all knew they had heard it and hadn't imagined it; Willow and Pat exchanged another look, then the demon grabbed the crossbow from Xander, giving Giles a thankful look when he, without a word, handed her several bolts. Quickly, she loaded the crossbow with one of them, then stuffed the remaining bolts into the waistband of her pants before she started hurrying upstairs, the others right behind her, all of them stopping dead in their tracks when they reached the first floor hallway and saw the woman standing in front of the door leading to Buffy's bedroom, kicking the wood ferociously.

Stunned, barely able to believe her eyes, Willow took a step forward, ending up next to her girlfriend; upon hearing them arrive upstairs, the woman stopped attacking the door and looked at them, a small smile curling her lips.

"Professor Rowe?" the redhead finally brought out, her voice trembling slightly; the smile on the professor's face widened, her voice sarcastic when she replied. "Surprised? I figured you might be. I have to admit that you surprised me, as well, I expected you to be gone for longer."

"You false bitch", Pat snapped, making Willow look at her in surprise, the shock of seeing her psychology teacher in Buffy's house clearly influencing her ability to put two and two together.

"You never wanted to meet us in that lecture hall, right?" the demon now went on, glaring at the other woman, "you just wanted to get us out of the house."

"Oh, Pat, long time no see. I see you didn't fully forget how I work, even though you remembered too late", Rowe replied, smiling full of self-confidence, obviously not worrying about the fact that she was clearly outnumbered.

"Too bad not all of you left", she added, gesturing at the door, "and that the bratty teenager and her friend managed to bar that door before I could get inside. On the other hand, it doesn't really matter – the Slayer will die sooner or later, I just wanted to speed the process up a bit."

"Tell us which spell you used", Willow demanded in response, giving her best to glare as effectively as her girlfriend, not doing such a good job though, "then we'll just let you go."

"Let me go?" the assassin echoed, laughing afterwards and shaking her head. "Little witch", she then went on, "do you think I'm afraid of you?"

"It's four against one", Xander did the math for the blonde woman, not showing it if he was afraid, "and you clearly know our demonic, fiery friend here, so I assume you also know how good she is at kicking ass."

"Oh, I know", the assassin gave back, still not sounding scared or even insecure at all, "even though, the last time I saw her, she still had both eyes. Fancy eye patch, Pat."

Snarling, the demon raised the crossbow in response and fired; and with lightning-quick speed, the hand of the other woman came up and caught the bolt, a sneering smile curling her lips while the eyes of her opponents went wide.

"Seems you also forgot that I'm quite fast", Rowe smirked, throwing the bolt aside carelessly, her smirk widening at what Giles mumbled behind the black haired woman. "And you forgot how she looked, apparently. Haven't you seen her at the cemetery once?"

"That's not her fault", the assassin answered the question, "wait, just let me fix that…" With those words, she brought up her hand, Pat automatically stepping in front of her girlfriend to protect her from any attacks; none came though, instead, the assassin made a sharp downward gesture in front of her face, her opponents letting out gasps in perfect unison when her hair colour and face changed seconds later, the blonde darkening to hazel and her facial features rearranging themselves until she looked completely different, her smirk remaining as taunting as it had been before the change though when she looked at the group again.

"That face is more familiar, isn't it, Pat?" she demanded to know, chuckling when the demon nodded grudgingly, lowering the crossbow as she realized that it'd only be a waste of bolts to fire again.

"You know", the assassin now spoke up again, the confident sound of her voice nearly driving the black haired woman nuts, "I'd love to stay a bit longer and go on chatting, but, well, I see no point in doing this so, you'll have to excuse me now."

"You think we'll just let you go?" Pat demanded to know as an answer, handing the crossbow to her girlfriend without even looking back at her, not taking her gaze off the other woman for a second.

"You might catch the bolts with your fancy speed", she added, clenching her fists and letting them flare up, "but let's see who's better at the hand to hand, shall we?"

"Oh, I'd love to", the assassin gave back, still not sounding all too impressed, "but I really have other things to take care of, so you'll have to take your macho attitude somewhere else."

Snarling again, the demon took a step forward in reply; with a heavy sigh, the assassin rolled her eyes, now seeming more annoyed than anything else – before she raised one hand again and snapped her fingers, a startled cry escaping Willow when within the blink of an eye, the flames which had been burning on her girlfriend's hands vanished into nothingness and the demon went down without a sound, hitting the carpet with a low thud.

Chuckling to herself, Rowe spun around and hurried down the hallway, towards the window at the end of it; while Giles knelt down next to the fallen demon to check on her, Willow tried to stop the fleeing assassin, her eyes going wide again when the binding spell she threw after the brunette had no effect at all, the window shattering a second later when Rowe jumped through it and vanished.

For a moment, the witch was torn between hurrying after her to try another spell through the window and checking on her girlfriend; then, she settled on the second option, telling herself that, if her binding spells obviously didn't work on the assassin, there was no use in trying another one anyway.

"What did she do to her?" she demanded to know, her heart skipping a beat when Giles looked up at her and she saw the expression on his face, saw how pale he had gone.

"I don't know", the Watcher gave back after a few seconds had ticked by, the tremble in his voice only convincing Willow further that something was terribly wrong, his next words confirming her suspicion and making her blood run cold. "I don't know what she did, but… I think she's dead."


	16. Chapter 16

"No", Willow finally brought out after almost a full minute of shocked silence, dropping the crossbow and kneeling down next to her girlfriend, "you did something wrong, she's not dead…"

Moving back to give her some room, Giles watched how she repeated exactly what he had done when he had checked on the demon minutes ago; she started by holding two fingers close to her girlfriend's nostrils, waiting for the feeling of warm breath on her skin, her own breathing quickening when it didn't come.

"No", she said again, her voice cracking, her hands trembling when she tried to find a pulse at the demon's neck; when she couldn't find one there, she moved one hand to Pat's chest, then to her wrist, her heartbeat tripling when she couldn't get a pulse anywhere.

"This can't be happening", she pressed out, both Giles and Xander watching in stunned silence, holding her gaze helplessly when she looked up at them, not sure what to say or to do.

"People don't just fall over and die like that", the witch went on, "this can't be happening…" Giving her best to hold back her tears, telling herself that there was no reason to cry and that surely, everything would be fine, that it just wasn't possible to kill someone like that, Willow focused on her girlfriend again, after a moment of just looking at her moving one arm beneath her neck and pulling her upwards and against herself, her voice nearly cracking when she spoke up again.

"Come on", she croaked, fighting down the urge to shake the lifeless demon, "you can't be dead, this just… Please wake up, Sweetie, please…"

Squeezing her eyes shut, she lost the battle against her tears, a harsh sob escaping her as they started to roll down her cheeks, her grip on Pat tightening, as if she could wake her up by just holding her tight and close enough.

"Come on", she repeated, hating how helpless this was making her feel, her mind going blank as all she could focus on was her girlfriend and what had happened to her, "wake up… Please… Please wake up, you can't just leave me like that!"

She was so focused on the demon in her arms that she didn't even notice how behind her, the door to Buffy's bedroom opened and Anya and Dawn stepped outside, both looking shocked, having heard her desperate pleas; they exchanged looks with Xander and Giles, but none of them knew what to do or to say, not sure if the redhead would even hear them if they'd try to talk to her.

For a while, Willow's sobs and pleas to her girlfriend to wake up and to not leave her like this were the only sounds in the hallway, the others watching helplessly; then, the witch suddenly went dreadfully silent, just looking at her girlfriend, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks. If any of the four others had been able to look into her mind, they would have realized earlier that was happening to her, would have seen that she was flashing back to the moment Tara had been shot; this time, there was no bullet hole and no blood, no sign of violence, but the woman in her arms was just as dead as Tara had been, and the deep-seated, familiar rage which had taken over back then now reared its ugly head again, demanding vengeance and payback for the death of yet another loved one.

Noticing how eerily calm Willow had become, Giles gave her an alarmed look, but gave his best to keep his voice steady and calm when he said her name, his concern increasing when she didn't react at all; instead of acknowledging him, Willow pulled Pat even closer to herself, then bent down to kiss her by now dreadfully cold lips, her voice steady and calm when she whispered a declaration of love to her, then carefully lowered her down on the carpet, her friends nearly flinching back when she looked up at them and they could see the darkness in her eyes.

"Stay here with her until I'm back", she nearly commanded, her voice now flat and emotionless, "I won't be gone for too long."

"Willow, wait", Xander tried to step her, remembering what had happened the last time she had looked and sounded like that; he reached out to grab her arm, but one look of her was enough to make him pull back, his eyes widening at the way she was staring at him, as if she was looking at a complete stranger and not at the man who had been one of her closest friends since childhood.

"I won't be gone for too long", she repeated, then came to her feet and made her way to the stairs, the others staring after her for a few seconds before Dawn spoke up, her voice trembling. "We have to stop her, we can't just let her go like that!"

"We can't stop her", Giles gave back, all at once sounding tired, "remember what happened the last time she was like that? Not even Buffy could stop her then."

"She wants vengeance, and she'll get it", Anya added, "the need for it is so strong I could feel it, and I haven't been a vengeance demon for years now."

"What happened?" Dawn demanded to know, looking down on the lifeless demon as if she only now fully saw her, "what did this woman do…?"

"It must have been some spell, or something similar", Giles mumbled in reply, taking off his glasses while his gaze focused on Pat as well, "she just snapped her fingers and then, Pat was… gone."

"But how is this possible?" the teenager demanded to know, the realization that the demon was dead now kicking in fully, her eyes filling with tears as well, "how could she just…"

Her voice cracked and she fell silent; feeling close to tears as well, Xander got up and moved over to her to hug her, holding her close as she cried into his chest, giving his best to calm her down while he exchanged worried looks with Giles and Anya, all of them wondering how deep Willow had delved into the darkness within her and in which state she'd be once she'd come back.

* * *

><p>Even though the need for vengeance and the rage which had brought it up were seething within her, Willow felt strangely calm as she moved to where the assassin had landed after she had jumped out of the window, the shards of glass glittering in the grass making it easy for her to find the exact spot; there, she stopped for a moment, closing her eyes and taking in a few deep breaths as she looked for the trail of magic the assassin surely had left behind, being a magic user herself.<p>

In her normal state, the redhead never would have been powerful enough to find said trail, and to follow it; her grief and rage fuelled the darker powers she had absorbed so many years ago, powers which had been under control, but never fully gone, and now where brought back to the surface, turning her eyes from their natural green to a deep black when she opened them again.

With a small, but frighteningly malicious smile forming on her face, the witch moved away from the house and followed the trail she had picked up; she didn't bother to run or to even walk fast, instead moving along in a surprisingly leisure pace, knowing that, no matter how fast or far that assassin would run, in the end, there'd be no escape – sooner or later, the darkness within her would reach full potential, and then, she'd just be able to teleport right where she wanted to go, her smile widening as she thought of what she would do the moment she'd stand in front of the person who had taken her lover from her.

At the moment, she had no idea what she'd do after she'd gotten rid of Rowe; the urge to destroy the world wasn't present this time, but she also was sure that she wouldn't just be able to go back to the way she had been before she had lost her loved one yet again, the thought of killing herself after her business was done suddenly seeming quite inviting.

Momentarily, she wondered what Pat would think of her if she'd see her now; she was sure that the desire for vengeance would be approved by the demon, remembering how she had acted whenever someone had hurt or merely threatened her, knowing that the black haired woman would've understood her need for payback, not feeling so sure about her intentions to commit suicide after the deed had been done.

_Before you do that, at least get the counterspell and the antidote, _the tiny voice of reason which was left within all the darkness told her, _so Buffy can live and all of this wasn't for nothing. _

She had to admit that this was making sense, a small smile forming on her face again as she thought of the possible ways to make the assassin tell her about the counterspell and the antidote; it wouldn't be the first time that she'd use those dark powers to get such information, and she was sure that sooner or later, she'd succeed in making the assassin talk – without pansy truth spells, but with the kind of violence that would satisfy the deep need for vengeance within her.

Now that her power was growing slowly, but steadily, she didn't need to focus fully on following the trail anymore, but could let her mind wander a bit; while her feet carried her down the street, each step taking her closer to Rowe, she thought of the years she had spent with Pat, the memories only fuelling her grief and anger further as she pondered that she'd never have another chance to kiss the taller woman, never again would be able to run her hands through that long, black and red hair in the heat of passion. Clenching her fists as tears filled her eyes again, she took in a deep breath, finally speeding up her pace; and with every step she took, the darkness grew, until the need for vengeance and for giving pain to the one who had hurt her so much was all that as left.

* * *

><p>After half an hour of walking, the trail ended in front of an old, abandoned office building, not really surprising Willow – after all, such places were perfect to hide, maybe not all too comfortable, but making sure that no unwanted guests would show up.<p>

Closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath, Willow focused fully on the trail again, not wanting to spend too much time with searching the numerous rooms of the building; then, she moved up to the front door and pushed, not surprised to see that it was locked. Shaking her head and wondering if the assassin really thought that this would keep her out – in case she even knew that she was hunted down this very moment – the witch pointed at the lock, then made a twirling gesture with her index finger; she could hear how the door was unlocked, smiling to herself again while she pushed it open and entered, her eyes narrowing as she focused on the trail once more.

It didn't really surprise her that it was leading down the hallway and to the emergency stairways; the elevator probably had been out of order for a long time, and usually, the cellars of such buildings were in even worse shape than the upper floors, making it unlikely that anyone would stay there voluntarily. Slowly, she started climbing the stairs, despite her anger still being reasonable enough to know that they might be rotten and close to breaking and that a wrong step might cause them to break; the trail was strong enough to convince her that Rowe was still in the building, probably not having an idea that someone whose only remaining desire in life was to kill her was approaching her.

To the redhead's satisfaction, the trail kept increasing when she reached the second floor, growing even stronger as she made her way down the hallway; and finally, she found the woman she had been looking for in one of the larger offices, standing with her back to her and packing several boxes and bags into one large duffel bag.

"Not wanting to wait until Buffy died anymore?" Willow asked sweetly, smiling when the assassin spun around and gave her a startled look; then, the surprise vanished from her face and was replaced with a smirk, her voice calm when she replied. "Would you look at that, it's the little witch. I didn't expect you to come here, if I'd known, I would have cleaned up."

"I'm here to take out the trash", the redhead replied coolly, "and I'll start with you."

"Boy, you are pissed", Rowe observed as an answer, taking a closer look at the witch, "isn't it amazing what one simple gesture can accomplish? All I had to do was snap my fingers, after all."

At hearing this, Willow clenched her fists, once more seeing how her girlfriend had gone down in front of her inner eyes seconds after said snapping of the assassin's fingers; she grit her teeth, her rage burning brightly again as she pressed out her reply. "What did you do to her?"

"Do you really need to ask?" Rowe gave back, raising an eyebrow. "You were there, you saw it. I took her down."

She smiled again, taking a step closer to the witch, clearly not afraid at all, seeming more amused by the redhead's appearance than anything else.

"You know, I probably even did you a favour, in the long run", she went on, chuckling when Willow's eyes went wide, the witch not replying anything though, giving Rowe the chance to go on.

"Think about it", she thus continued, taking another step closer to her, "like so many other demons, she's immortal. No aging, no dying of natural means… Only if someone comes along and kills them. You, on the other hand… You really think she would've stayed with you once you'd started to grow old?"

"She would have", Willow pressed out in reply, still gritting her teeth so tight that her jaw was beginning to ache, "she loved me, and I loved her… and you took her away from me…"

"I wish I could say that I'm sorry", Rowe replied, giving the witch another smile, "but, well, I'm not. You know, your girlfriend's had quite the bad reputation among us, the fact that I took her out will give me extra credit with other demons…"

Hearing those words made Willow's rage reach new heights, and she let out a snarl – before she raised her hand and gestured at the assassin, a surprised noise escaping the other woman when she was thrown backwards and against the wall moments later.

"I think we've talked enough", the witch let her opponent know, clenching and opening her fists over and over again, "let's end this, shall we?"

In response, Rowe just looked at her for a few more moments – then came to her feet and vanished through the wall, her footsteps fading away quickly in the distance, the redhead looking after her slightly started, a slight smile forming on her face after a few seconds, her mind focusing on the trail again as she started walking once more, knowing that, no matter how fast the assassin would run, there'd be no escape.


	17. Chapter 17

"So what will we do if Willow kills that woman?" Xander wanted to know after they all just had sat around in silence for almost an hour, looking at Giles; helplessly, the Watcher shrugged, then took off his glasses and started to clean them, still sounding upset when he replied.

"That depends on her state when she comes back here", he let the younger man know, frowning at Dawn when she mumbled a comment about how, maybe, the witch wouldn't bother to come back.

"She will", Anya stated confidently, "she told us to stay here with Pat until she'd come back, remember?"

"I do", Giles sighed, "so I, too, am confident that she will come back. And if we're lucky, she won't be out to end the world once more after she hunted down that assassin."

"At least she's not out to kill another human this time", Xander mumbled after a few more moments of silence, "so it's not that bad, right? I mean, Buffy and Pat kill demons all the time… or used to…"

He trailed off, looking at the lifeless form of the demon; since it had seemed kind of icky to put her on the couch, they had placed her on the living room table, her feet dangling down to the carpet thanks to her height.

"I can't believe that this happened", he added, his gaze still focused on Pat, "how could she have done that? She just has to snap her fingers and that's it?"

"Apparently", Giles mumbled, now staring at the demon as well, "I've never heard of something like this before, but we all saw it…"

"Dawn and me didn't", Anya found it necessary to remind him, "we just heard you talk to that crazy woman in the hallway and then, Willow cried. I wish this hadn't happened."

"Me too", Dawn croaked, feeling close to tears again; after the emotional stress of having to deal with her sister getting poisoned and ending up in a coma, the sight of the dead demon was more than she could bear, and she kept staring at her feet, her mind running wild as she imagined a future without the woman she'd grown to like so much during the last few years.

"I don't know how she's supposed to get over this", the brunette went on after a few moments, still focused on her feet, "this is the second time that… her girlfriend died…"

"I don't think anyone can get over something like that", Giles replied, looking at the teenager, "at least not fully. We'll just have to be there for her once she comes back, and try to keep her from going off the deep end again…"

"If she isn't there already", Anya pointed out, shrugging when the Watcher gave her an annoyed look; he didn't make a comment though, but simply put his glasses back on before he shifted on his seat, his gaze focusing on the demon again.

"This will be hard", he went on, "she's so full of grief and anger again…"

"Well, can you blame her?" Dawn demanded to know, shaking her head at the disbelieving look the Watcher gave her, sounding indignant when she spoke on. "You all know I understood it when she went after Warren, and I understand her now, too. I'd go after that assassin bitch myself if I could, after what she did to Buffy and to Pat!"

"Agreed", Anya took the brunette's side, "and, as my dear Xander pointed out before, this time, she's going after a demon. With a good reason. We can hardly blame her for that, can we?"

"No one's blaming her", Giles defended himself, "but you saw her before she left, right? You saw her eyes? You know what this might mean."

"Well, she didn't seem as set on causing an apocalypse as she was the last time she was like this", Xander shrugged, to the Watcher's dismay siding against him with the other two as well, "plus, she only had the black eyes going for her, no black hair and no scary veins."

"Not yet", Giles mumbled, then fell silent and looked at the demon again; the rest became quiet again as well, the four of them sitting in uncomfortable silence as they waited for the time to pass and for Willow to come back.

* * *

><p>Running through walls always had been quite tiring, even after centuries of training; still the assassin knew that getting tired out was worth it, especially after that small taste of the witch's power and the potential for much more she had managed to sense through said small taste. Even though she didn't like it, she had to admit that she had underestimated the witch; when she had seen her for the first time, in psychology class, she had seemed confident, giving off a strong vibe of magical knowledge to anyone who knew how to sense it, but there hadn't been the tiniest hint for this tremendous power.<p>

Panting slightly, the assassin came to a stop, looking around to figure out how far she had gone; she had left the office building a while ago and had kept hurrying through the streets and other, abandoned houses, once even rushing through a house where people lived, probably giving them all heart attacks when she had ran through their living room and had gone out through the wall.

"Not that I care much", she muttered to herself, slowing down as she figured that she had managed to outdistance the witch, smirking to herself as she thought about the advantages of being able to go through walls, something the little redhead clearly couldn't do, despite all her power.

It annoyed her a bit that she had been forced to leave all her utensils behind; on the other hand, she had countless contacts who could provide her with fresh stuff, and once she'd receiver her payment for offing the Slayer, paying for it wouldn't be a problem either. Stopping her walk, she looked around once more, finding herself in a park; since it was in one of the shadier parts of town, she couldn't see anyone else around, all of them probably too scared to hang out here after sundown, only a few of the streetlamps working, creating small islands of light here and there.

Figuring that she could take a few minutes to regain some of her strength, the assassin leaned against the next tree and looked up at the darkening skies, frowning when she saw the clouds up there – she wasn't all too keen on rain, especially not if she had to flee on foot until better means of transportation could be found, but judging from how the sky was looking, the water would come down sooner or later. "Afraid of thunderstorms?"

The voice coming from her right made her jump, and she twirled around; this time, her surprise was much bigger when she found herself looking at the witch again, the redhead not even out of breath, looking just as she had when she had been left behind at the office building.

"Nice trick you had there with the walls", Willow now added, taking a step closer to the assassin, "but no more running now, alright? We're not done yet."

At the last words, her eyes narrowed; and seconds later, the tree suddenly seemed to grow lianas, something which was rather unusual, considering the fact that it was an oak tree, the green ropey plants wrapping around the assassin's arms and legs, keeping her firmly secured against the tree, a small smile appearing on Willow's face when the other woman cried out and began struggle, only succeeding in making the plants tighten even further around her though.

"Pretty good spell, huh?" the witch smiled, walking closer until they were inches apart. "I don't know how you fought off my first binding spell, back in the house", she went on, "but clearly, it didn't work this time, did it? Too bad for you. Now tell me the counterspell for the poison you used, tell me where I can find the antidote… and I'll kill you quickly instead of slowly."

"You think I'll tell you anything if you'll kill me either way?" Rowe snarled, all her smugness gone now, replaced by irritation and something that might be fear. "Dream on, witch."

"I thought you'd say that", Willow sighed, then smiled pleasantly at the other woman again, making her flinch when she reached up and touched her forehead.

"This might hurt", she then added, "but don't say I didn't warn you." Before the assassin had a chance to try and break free again, Willow had reached up with both hands, grasping her head; moments later, bright light exploded from her fingers, Rowe letting out a strangled cry at the bolt of pain which shot through her head.

"Interesting facts in here", the witch commented, "should have figured that Sylvia Rowe's not your real name, not that it matters much anymore. Sabina's a pretty name though, why would you change it? Probably too rare and Pat would have recognized you faster, hm? Now let's look for that antidote…"

She furrowed her brow as she focused, the brunette in her grasp letting out a choking noise at the feeling of the witch going through her thoughts; momentarily, she tried to hide the information, then the pain blocked out everything else, making her wonder how long she'd have to stand that – and how long she'd be able to do so.

"There we go", Willow finally, after what seemed like an eternity, smirked, letting go of the assassin, "now I got everything I need to know. Thank you."

She took a step back, then looked up at the sky for a moment before she focused on the other woman again, her voice sounding sweet again when she spoke on. "Well, it does look like rain, so I have to get going. I'll just kill you and go back home, my friends are waiting there for me."

"This isn't over", the assassin snarled in reply, displaying surprising guts even though she was seconds away from being killed, "it never will be. We'll send one after the other, until the Slayer's dead, and we'll never stop!"

"You do know that, once the Slayer is dead, a new one is called, right?" Willow wanted to know, unimpressed; the other woman just let out a snort in reply, making the witch smile – before her eyes narrowed once more and she raised her hand, a strong breeze coming up seconds later.

Once more, Sabina started struggling against her bonds, with no avail again though; then, the pain set in once more and she cried out, having just another second to see the smile on Willow's face before she was gone, disintegrating into nothingness so quickly and thoroughly that not even the smallest hint of her presence was left.


	18. Chapter 18

Killing the assassin had been quite draining, especially since it had been done so quickly; and now that she had gotten her revenge, Willow felt tired and empty, the last purpose she had had in this life gone.

"Next to last", she corrected herself out loud after a moment, remembering that she still had to go back to the assassin's hideout and get the antidote from there; again, she asked herself what she'd do once that task had been fulfilled, the thought of just continuing her life without her girlfriend by her side depressing her so much that it almost hurt her physically.

As if the environment was empathic and sympathetic to the grief that filled her, now that the desire for vengeance had been stilled and the anger was gone, it started to rain at last, the witch not even fully noticing though, just walking on with her now back to normal gaze focused on the pavement between her feet.

Normally, she would have wondered how long it'd take her to get back to the office building where the assassin had kept her stuff, how wet she'd get until she'd arrive there and if she was risking a flu or even pneumonia, all those thoughts gone from her mind now though, only the dark void of depression filling it. The sound of footsteps approaching her distracted her from the blackness in her mind, and she looked up, morbidly wondering if now, a vampire or another demon had decided that she'd make a good snack and if she even should fight, should this be the case; a second later, she stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes going wide and her breath getting caught in her throat.

"You know, you'll catch a cold if you walk around in the rain like that, without an umbrella", Pat stated, smiling slightly while she moved closer to the witch, stopping though when Willow took a step back, her hand coming up to cover her mouth.

"I think I've lost my mind", the redhead mumbled after just staring for a few more seconds, not sure if she was talking to herself or to her girlfriend, her heart cramping up when the taller woman raised an eyebrow in reply, an expression she had seen so often and always had loved to see.

"You're… you're dead", she then added, taking another step back and momentarily squeezing her eyes shut, half expecting the demon to be gone when she opened them again, the tiniest dot of hope blooming in her heart when Pat was still there – before she fought it down, telling herself that she finally had cracked and was imagining things, that losing yet another loved one had been too much for her mind to handle and that now, it was making up what she wanted to see.

"No I'm not", Pat now told her, raising her hands when Willow took another step back, her voice kind and calming when she spoke on. "I know you think I am, and it makes perfect sense that you would, but I can explain it. We just shouldn't do that out here in the rain though, unless you really wanna catch a cold."

"She confirmed that she killed you", the redhead brought out in reply, the hope coming back again and, this time, refusing to be repressed, "she confirmed it! And, and I checked, there was no breathing, no heartbeat… You're dead, I'm just imagining this, I've gone crazy and I'm hallucinating…"

"As I said, I can explain it", the demon repeated patiently, "but I'm getting uncomfortably wet, and I assume you are, too. Let's at least go into one of those empty buildings?"

All Willow could do in response was stare at her, her mind now racing so fast that it nearly made her dizzy as she tried to figure out if this was real or if she was just imagining it; this occupied her so much that she didn't even think of stepping back again when the taller woman took a step closer to her, still sounding soothing when she continued talking. "Sweetie, the others told me how upset you were… Well, after they got over all the screaming and shouting when I sat up on that table, which is very uncomfortable, by the way… And I can imagine that you find this hard to understand, but I assure you that I am not dead. I'm all fine and dandy, see?"

"But…", the redhead started helplessly, now feeling slightly faint, "I checked… you were dead…"

"Nope", Pat tried to convince her once more, then suddenly smirked, lowering her voice at what she said next, as if to make sure that no one would hear them, even though they were alone on the street. "But if you really can't believe that I'm real, well, I think I might have some ideas to convince you. They'd involve nakedness and a bed and tongues, or, better said, my tongue, but we should do that out here even less than just talking, because we might get arrested."

Hearing this made Willow's eyes go wide once more, and for the first time since the demon had appeared, she stepped closer to her instead of away from her; with a visibly trembling hand, she reached up and touched the taller woman's cheek, felt the warm skin and the drops of rain which were falling on it, all of this feeling too real to be just a figment of her imagination.

This combined with the fact that only Pat would say something like that to convince her of her realness suddenly caused the tiny speck of hope turn into something much, much bigger, so big that it overwhelmed her. All at once, tears filled her eyes again, a heavy sob freeing itself from her throat; and then, she almost threw herself into the black haired woman's arms, clinging to her as if her life depended on her, her sobbing increasing when she felt the leather of her jacket and smelled her familiar scent, the feeling when Pat wrapped her arms around her and held her close only making her cry even harder.

"It's okay", she heard the demon mutter, one of her hands coming up to caress her hair when she buried her face in her chest and just kept on crying, "it's okay, Sweetie, everything's fine, it's okay…"

There were a thousand things she wanted to say coming up in Willow's mind, but she was crying so hard by now that she couldn't even get out a single word; clearly eager to calm her down, Pat kept caressing her hair and her back, mumbling soothing words to her and holding her until finally, the redhead had calmed down enough to be capable of talking, her heart now nearly bursting with joy when she looked up at her girlfriend and their eyes met.

"I thought you're gone", she whispered, tears still rolling down her cheeks, mixing with the rain that still was falling from the sky, "and it hurt so much, I just couldn't…"

She trailed off, not sure how to finish; to her relief, her loved one clearly understood her though, since she smiled slightly and nodded, then mumbled "I know" – before she bent down to kiss her, the witch returning the kiss with all the fervour she found within herself, the last bit of darkness and depression fading away the moment she could taste her girlfriend's lips on hers again.

* * *

><p>"How did you find me?" Willow asked ten minutes later, now sitting in one of the abandoned buildings, on her girlfriend's jacket, finding herself unable to let go of the demon's hand, as if she'd vanish into nothingness the moment the contact would be over.<p>

"I was lucky", Pat admitted, smirking at the shocked look the redhead gave her in reply and quickly explaining herself. "When I woke up, I first had to calm down the others, they thought I'd turned into a zombie or something, so there was much screaming and panic, but once they'd all regained their senses, they told me what had happened. They tried to make me stay and wait for your return with them, but I wouldn't and went looking for you instead and, well, found you."

"That was really lucky, then", Willow gave back, a bit stunned at how lucky exactly her girlfriend had been, smiling at the demon's next words. "Well, maybe not just lucky… You know, that bright white light that came up when you did some sort of mojo in that park over there, that surely helped."

"That was me giving that assassin a migraine", the redhead informed her, then grew serious again, lowering her voice when she spoke on. "It was a spell to get inside her mind, so I'd get the information I needed, on the counterspell for the poison and on the antidote… And then I killed her."

With the last words, she looked at the demon, her heart beating faster again as she waited for a reaction; to her immense relief, the taller woman just smirked, then shrugged, not sounding all too disturbed when she replied. "Yup, the others told me you'd gone out to get some revenge, good to hear you managed to get rid of that bitch."

"And I'm glad to hear that", Willow sighed out, her relief clearly showing through her voice, "I was a bit worried what you'd think of me…"

"Hey, I'm a demon", Pat reminded her, "I'm all for vengeance gigs. If you hadn't finished her off, I would have done it."

"What did she do?" Willow demanded to know, suddenly remembering that this hadn't been explained to her yet, "I was so sure you're dead!"

"That's the point of that little trick", Pat sighed out, shaking her head before she briefly let go of her girlfriend's hand so she could get out her cigarettes and light one of them up, "and I was idiotic enough to not write that down back then, can't believe that now. It only works on demons, you know? Knocks out instantly and puts the victim in some kind of… well, I guess it's safe to call it hibernation, the breathing and heart rate goes down and everything… Like a bear in winter!"

The comparison had the effect Pat had desired when she had made it, namely to make the witch giggle; shaking her head, Willow looked at her, a playful spark in her eyes when she replied. "Well, when you demon out, you're at least as furry as a bear… But why would she tell me then that this killed you?"

"To make you mad?" the demon shrugged, "mad people make mistakes, you know. Too bad for her you didn't get so mad that you made one."

"Ha!" Willow let out in reply, making the demon raise an eyebrow at her, "even madder than I've been? I would have wanted to end the world again, then."

"I would have stopped you", Pat confidently gave back, for a moment, the redhead wanted to tell her that this wouldn't have been easy, then her urge to protest melted away and she just nodded as she looked at the taller woman beside her, once more realizing how lucky she was to have her back in her life.

"You probably could have", she thus admitted, "and if not, you could've called Xander so he'd remind me of the yellow crayon story."

This made the demon chuckle and nod; smiling as well, Willow craned her neck for another kiss, a more innocent and soft one than the one they had shared out in the rain, then sighed as she looked out of the smashed window and saw that it was still raining outside.

"I'd love to wait in here until it stopped raining, and just cuddle with you", she then let her girlfriend know, "but we should get going, back to that office building so we can get the antidote…"

"You know what it is now?" Pat wanted to know in reply, sounding so surprised that it made the witch giggle, her eyes sparkling with glee when she nodded. "Sure I do, I told you, I got the information out of her mind when I did that lightshow that helped you to find me. That was minutes ago!"

"Oh, yeah", the black haired woman remembered, giving the witch an apologetic look afterwards, "sorry, I think all the yelling and screaming after I woke up damaged my hearing. You should have been there though, it was hilarious, Xander screamed like a girl!"

"Poor him, don't make fun of him", Willow scolded as an answer, not fully serious though; she took the time to steal another kiss, then came to her feet, prompting Pat to do the same a moment later, nodding when the demon asked her if she could find her way back to the office building.

"We better get moving then", the taller woman suggested after she had received the desired answer, "Buffy's state was still the same when I left, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Nodding again, Willow grasped her hand once more, briefly wishing for an umbrella; then, she shrugged it off and focused on finding the way back to where the antidote was waiting as they left the building together, her heart still filled with joy about the fact that her girlfriend wasn't dead and that the one who had been responsible for all this pain had been defeated.


	19. Chapter 19

Author's Note: Yup, yet another one done :) I hope you enjoyed reading and that you'll be around for the next one, which will be posted next Monday (yes, they still keep coming… ;) )

* * *

><p>Almost an hour later, the whole gang watched in breathless silence how Giles finished injecting the antidote into the crook of the Slayer's arm, carefully pulling the needle back out afterwards; he took a step back from the bed, putting the needle down on the nightstand before his gaze focused on Buffy again, his heartbeat quickening while he waited to see if it would work.<p>

Behind him, Willow held back the urge to grip her girlfriend's shirt tighter; the spell she had put on the antidote to block the one Sabina had used to make her poison more potent had been quite draining, especially after how she had gotten rid of the assassin, but she had refused to stay downstairs in the living room when they all had gone to Buffy's room to administer the antidote, instead letting her girlfriend support her and almost hold her upright now.

"How long will it take until it'll work?" the Watcher wanted to know now, turning to look at the witch, dismayed when she shrugged helplessly, her tiredness showing through her voice when she replied. "Not sure, that information wasn't… in that woman's mind. Not too long though I guess…"

"I hope so", Dawn muttered, her gaze never leaving the still unsettlingly lifeless form of her sister; they all nodded their agreement, then fell silent, just watching the Slayer, waiting for her to open her eyes.

Feeling how her girlfriend shuffled her feet next to her, Willow gave her a curious look; as a reply, Pat brought one hand up to her mouth in a gesture that clearly mimicked smoking, making her need quite clear to the redhead and forcing her to hold back a giggle before she raised an eyebrow, managing to practically say "How can you wanna smoke at such a moment, shame on you" with that simple expression, the way her girlfriend cleared her throat making it quite clear that it had been received correctly.

Before the demon had a chance though to try and make a face that would answer accordingly, a soft moan coming from the bed distracted her from her need to smoke, and she quickly looked at Buffy again, Willow feeling how her heartbeat sped up the moment the blonde let out another moan, this time a bit louder.

"Come on Buffy", Dawn broke the silence, grasping her sisters hand, "wake up…"

Almost as if she had heard her, the Slayer let out another groan, then her eyes slowly fluttered open; moments later, she let out a weak sound of surprise when Dawn nearly flung herself against her and wrapped her into a tight embrace, ignoring it when Giles called out her name and told her to give her sister some space.

"Come on, let her breathe", Xander was the one who finally got through to her and managed to pull her away from the Slayer, "or you'll knock her right back into her coma."

"Buffy", Giles addressed the blonde while Xander made her sister take a step back from the bed, the Watcher's relief when Buffy looked at him in response clearly showing on his face, "can you hear me?"

Weakly, the Slayer nodded, clearly struggling to keep her eyes open; eager to keep her awake, the Brit continued, asking her how she felt, a small smile curling his lips when she whispered "Thirsty" in reply, her voice hoarse and weak, but at least it was there and it showed that she was addressable and capable of responding.

"Someone get her some water", Giles almost ordered, "but not too cold."

Nodding, Anya hurried off into the adjoined bathroom, the sound of running water coming up moments later, the ex-demon returning twenty seconds later and handing the water to the elder man; carefully, he lifted Buffy's head, then held the glass to her lips, the Slayer drinking greedily, most of the cool liquid running down her chin and dripping to her chest, but still she managed to get some sips down.

"It worked", Willow whispered to her girlfriend, now sounding proud despite her tiredness, "she'll be fine again…"

"Yes", Pat confirmed, tightening her embrace around the redhead and giving her a bright smile, "it did, you did a great job, I'm so proud of you."

At those words, the redhead blushed, making the demon's smile widen; she still had the time to bend down for a kiss, then Giles ushered them all out of the room, telling them that Buffy needed to get some rest now and that they should let her have it, the group making their way downstairs into the living room while Dawn stayed with her sister, throwing the witch a last grateful look before the door closed and gave them the privacy and silence they needed.

* * *

><p>"So", Giles was the first one to spoke up after they all had sat down in the living room, Willow once more as close to her girlfriend as she could be without actually sitting in her lap, "you got rid of the one responsible for this…?"<p>

"Yes", the witch confirmed, for the first time wondering if her short trip to the dark side would have any unpleasant consequences, searching the elder man's facial expression for any hints about that question, "I did, and I think I know everything there is to know about the whole situation…"

Nodding, Giles encouraged her to go on, and after looking briefly at her girlfriend, she did so, her voice steady as she told them what she had seen in the assassin's mind before she had killed her.

"It was her who killed Professor Crichton", she started at the beginning, "so she could get into college and check out the situation, Buffy and me… She quickly figured out that Barry liked her, and used some sort of mind control mojo to make him deliver the poisoned earrings, that's why he wasn't remembering anymore from whom exactly he bought them. Of course she knew and remembered Pat, that's why she wanted to get us out of the house, and that's why she knocked her out first when she came here, with that little finger snapping trick of hers… Which only works on demons, by the way."

"Oh yes, that was so lucky", Pat commented dryly, smirking again though when Giles reminded her of the fact that she had cost him years of his life when she just had sat up on the living room table after they all had thought that she was dead.

"Not my fault that you were so quick to decide I bit the dust", the demon defended herself, making the Brit give her another irritated look before he focused on Willow again, his voice serious when he spoke up. "I hope you know that you were quite close to going over the edge again, and how dangerous that was."

"I know", the redhead sighed out, "but, well, I couldn't really help myself, I was so sure Pat's dead…"

"I'm aware of this", Giles reassured her, "and also of the fact that you killed a demon, something we've all done before, and that in the end, it worked out fine. I'd suggest that you take another trip to England, but I doubt you're willing to do that, so you should at least talk with the coven about this over the phone."

"I will", Willow promised, immensely relieved – when he had started that talk, she was sure that she'd end up going back to England and would be stuck there for weeks or even months again, something she wasn't all too keen about, even though it would have been nice to meet the girls of the coven again.

"It won't happen again", she added after a moment, "I promise."

"Not as long as Pat stays alive, at least", Anya quipped, shrugging when the redhead threw her a dirty look; then, Willow shrugged it off and just nodded, ignoring the reproachful look Giles was giving her and the knowledge that this hadn't been what he had wanted to hear, just looking at her girlfriend again and smiling at her, her heart performing a happy summersault in her chest when the demon smiled back.

Even though Buffy was still weak, they all knew now that she'd be fine in the end; and combined with the knowledge that both Pat and Willow were fine as well, this took all the tension away at last, the whole group starting to grin at each other as they sat there, no words needed to make them realize that once more, they had been the ones to triumph and that the forces of evil once more had been shown that the Slayer wouldn't be taken down so easily.

End.


End file.
